Boucher: So, What’s Wrong With The Lightning?

Sunday night the Tampa Bay Lightning looked to close out their California road trip with a victory over the Los Angeles Kings. The Bolts secured victories against the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks in the last week. Their gutsy performance late in the third to eke out a win in San Jose was great to see. Unfortunately things didn’t go as well in LA. Late in the game, James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail tweeted out “So. What’s wrong with the Lightning?”. It’s a valid question with more than a few correct answers.

So. What’s wrong with the Lightning?

— James Mirtle (@mirtle) December 7, 2015

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Injuries: The Injury Ninja is always busy during an NHL season. The rigors of the game dictate that people will get hurt. Unfortunately for the Lightning quite a few key players have been out of the lineup through the first part of the year. The Bolts have played 28 games so far. They’ve lost 58 games due to injury. Ondrej Palat has been out of the lineup since sustaining a lower body injury on November 7^th. Tyler Johnson recently missed three games only to be sidelined by another mysterious injury. Victor Hedman was absent due to concussion protocol in October.

Aside from some of their marquee players, the Bolts were also without Jonathan Drouin and Cedric Paquette for significant amounts of time. Paquette is still listed as day-to-day and his presence is sorely missed. His physical style often serves as a catalyst for the rest of the team. The call-ups from Syracuse have done a great job filling in but the Lightning are missing some of their regulars in a big way.

Special Teams Woes: Tampa Bay’s power play is bad and that’s being kind. There are quite a few other descriptive words that would also apply here. Currently the team is successful 16.5% of the time on the power play and ranked 25^th in the league. The penalty kill unit is only slightly better at 76.7% and ranked 24^th in the NHL. Yes, there are still only 30 teams in the NHL. The team’s issues with the man advantage were especially glaring in LA. The Bolts had the man advantage six times and failed to convert any of those opportunities. In fact they only registered four combined shots with the man advantage. This includes one minute and ten seconds of a 5-on-3 in the second period where the Bolts didn’t get a single shot on goal.

Opponents Know What To Expect: The Lightning opened a lot of eyes during the 2015 playoffs. That visibility was great in earning recognition for the team and the market. It hasn’t been so great for the team so far this season. While they were battling the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final, 28 other teams and coaches were watching very closely. They saw what the Bolts are capable of and unfortunately how to beat them. The NHL is a copycat league and that’s definitely contributing to some of the struggles. The opposition has amended their approach when playing the Bolts. The Lightning have had a hard time adapting to these challenges.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The Lightning are definitely going through a trying time. There is good news though. Injuries eventually heal and important players return to the lineup. That will help the team reach a level of consistency they’ve been struggling to achieve all season.

What’s wrong with the Lightning? Nothing they can’t fix themselves.

(Feature Photo/Getty Images)

Follow me on Twitter @alexis_b82 and please “like” LightningShout on Facebook. You can email us at [email protected].