The Tampa Bay Lightning are starting to look like the team nobody wants to run into come playoff time.
After getting blown out 5-1 by the New York Rangers in their season opener, Tampa Bay has reeled off four straight wins to climb to 4-1-0 and take an early lead in the Atlantic Division.
Saturday’s 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders offered another glimpse of what this group can do. Brandon Hagel erupted for a hat trick and an assist, while Jake Guentzel chipped in two goals of his own.
Suddenly, the Lightning are finding the back of the net in bunches.
That is certainly promising, but there is a catch. Early-season scoring binges can make a team look better than it really is. Tampa Bay needs to show that its success is built on sound five-on-five play and contributions throughout the lineup, rather than a handful of players running red-hot.
Lightning Continue to Thrive Under Jon Cooper
One loss was never going to tell the whole story with this group. Jon Cooper has been around the block enough times to know that a bad night does not have to turn into a bad week, and his players have responded exactly as he would have hoped.
The Lightning bounced back against Washington and then kept the good times rolling against Philadelphia, Minnesota and the Islanders. Better yet, the offense has not been a one-man show. John Carlson found the net twice against Minnesota, while Hagel and Guentzel took over against New York.
That’s the kind of balance the Bolts need.
Teams can plan around Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, but it becomes a much tougher assignment when the rest of the cast is chipping in, while making opponents pay for their mistakes.
Cooper has long been one of the Lightning’s biggest advantages. His teams know how to adjust, weather a rough patch and get back to playing their game. Tampa Bay’s response to their opening night flop shows this team still has what it takes to win.
Now comes the hard part: keeping it up. The Lightning need to keep generating quality chances at five-on-five and tighten things up defensively. They cannot afford to spend the season asking their goaltenders to put out fires.
Bolts Must Prove Their Aging Core Can Sustain This Start
For all the early-season optimism, there is still a question hanging over Tampa Bay: How much does this veteran group have left in the tank?
Kucherov, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy remain the backbone of the team. Nevertheless, they have plenty of miles on the odometer. Experience counts for a lot, especially in tight games, yet the Lightning cannot keep leaning on the same handful of stars, expecting everything to fall into place.
The supporting cast has to pull its weight.
Hagel’s four-point night against the Islanders was a statement performance, but nobody should expect him to put up those numbers every time he hits the ice. Tampa Bay’s power play also stumbled out of the gate, going scoreless through its first three games despite generating opportunities.
That is why the underlying play matters more than the early standings. If the Lightning are controlling possession, creating chances and getting regular production from their depth forwards, there is every reason to believe this hot start can stick.
If they are simply riding a heater and getting timely saves, however, the bottom could fall out once the puck stops bouncing their way.
For now, Tampa Bay has given its critics little reason to panic. Cooper’s group looks dangerous again, and the early returns are promising. But the Lightning still have something to prove before anyone should start penciling them into another deep playoff run.
Lightning May Be Finding Their Form at Exactly the Right Time