Have the Rumors of the Lightning's Demise Been Greatly Exaggerated?

The penultimate Saturday of the regular season featured 15 games, a lot of them with playoff implications. Already, the first of the 15 games could affect two teams. The New York Rangers, who are long eliminated, hosted the Detroit Red Wings, who needed something to go right. Fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning had their TVs to ABC for this game, and it was going very well in their favor. Rookie Gabe Perreault picked up his first career Hat Trick, leading the Rangers to a 4-1.

With that result, the Tampa Bay Lightning are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the ninth straight year, and with the Toronto Maple Leafs' elimination on Thursday, nine years remains the longest current playoff streak, with that honor now shared between the Lightning and the Colorado Avalanche. We all know what TB's done during their stretch. The streak started in 2018, where the Bolts were Conference Finalists, but were defeated by the Capitals. The following year was the dream year turned nightmare. 62 wins, 128 points, swept by (of all teams) the Columbus Blue Jackets in Round 1.

Of course, as proof that the best revenge is living well, the Bolts responded in the best way they knew how: winning the Stanley Cup. Did it in 2020. Did it again in 2021. Fell two wins short of three-peating in 2022. Even so, three straight Final appearances. That's big. But after that? Ousted in Round 1 by the Maple Leafs (who hadn't won a series in 19 years). The last two years have seen the Lightning eliminated by their in-state rivals, the Florida Panthers, and both times, the Panthers eventually went on to win the Cup.

So yeah, four straight series losses dating back to the 2022 Final, and the oustings have been getting worse. Based on that, I truly thought that the Lightning's luster was snuffed out, which would have been overdue because they did so much. But from the looks of this season, yeah, the Lightning still have that mojo. They may have more of it now, holy cow!

Is there really anything left to say about Nikita Kucherov? There really isn't, except this: the guy's not human. In what was supposed to be a two-man Ross Trophy (points leader) race between Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, here comes Kucherov collecting points like Sonic the Hedgehog collects gold rings. Right now, Kucherov has 124 points (41G/83A), which trails only McDavid in the race. It frustrates me as an Avs fan, because Mack's never won the Ross, and the only reason why he didn't last year is because he rested up for the playoffs.

So yeah, Kucherov is a threat to take his third straight Ross, but that's the regular season. He's a point machine in the regular season, but in the playoffs lately? Not so much. Kucherov has had problems finding the net in the playoffs. Only two goals total dating back to the 2022 Final, and he needed a 5-on-3 PP to put one in during that Final. And it still annoys me that no one talks about Kucherov's problems, yet act like Mitch Marner can't score in the playoffs.

Jake Guentzel (36G/47A = 83P) and Brandon Hagel (35G/38A = 73P) have served as the new usual suspects for TB. It's still odd that Steven Stamkos isn't on the team anymore, but they still have Brayden Point, and of course, Andrei Vasilevskiy in net. The Bolts look very good this season. They're in a tight race in the Atlantic, and it does look like they'll get a great position. The Lightning should make a lot of noise. Maybe we get a 2022 rematch?