As of the Christmas break, the Tampa Bay Lightning sit just three points behind the Boston Bruins, who currently occupy the third playoff position in the Atlantic division. Before the season, this would have been disappointing news. How is a team as talented as this one on the outside looking in?
On the flip side, their position should be celebrated. What other team in this league could lose their starting goaltender and four of their top nine forwards for extended periods of time and still be part of the conversation? It’s mind-boggling, frankly. Steven Stamkos is gone for months (again). Ben Bishop caught another bad break (again). Ryan Callahan doesn’t seem fully recovered from offseason hip surgery. Young engines Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov have been out for weeks. Kucherov is still the leading scorer, and he hasn’t played since December 10th!
This is what depth does for you. Jonathan Drouin has continued to mature and been a scoring machine. Valtteri Filppula nearly has as many points this season (24 in 31 games) as he had all last season (31 in 76 games). More importantly, re-enforcements from Syracuse have seamlessly entered the lineup and held their own. Cory Conacher, Tanner Richard, Joel Vermin and Erik Condra have all made their case to stick around if injuries or trades shake up the roster. While Andrei Vasilevskiy is tabbed as the goalie of the future, it’s still tremendous to see how well he’s handling the spotlight.
The quest continues with a big game Wednesday night against Montreal. Our friend Erik Erlendsson indicates many of the injured players will return to the lineup, including a direct confirmation from Nikita Kucherov.
How do you feel about the Bolts’ current position? Are you optimistic as we approach the midpoint of the season?
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