Lightning Look to Bounce Back from Thwarted Three-Peat

The Tampa Bay Lightning's recent run has been amazing and fun to watch, at least in the perspective of this hockey fan. We all know the story; after their 62-win season ended with them getting surprisingly mollywhopped by the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Bolts bounced back in a big way. What did they do? Nothing much. Only won the Stanley Cup, that's all. They liked that feeling so much that they decided, "What the hell, let's do that again." This past season saw the Lightning with a great chance to do what hadn't been done in four decades: win three straight Cups. They managed to return to the Cup Final for the third straight year; the first team to achieve this feat since the Edmonton Oilers did so from 1983-85.

However, despite a very, and I mean very game effort against the Colorado Avalanche, the Lightning ended up falling two wins short of winning their 12th straight playoff series, and their third straight Stanley Cup. For the first time in a little while, the Lightning entered a season not seated at the throne that they had coveted for close to three years. It was regroup time for the Bolts. It hasn't been easy. Nothing in the NHL is. The Lightning showed the biggest signs of humanity since this run of theirs started. While they were never in danger of missing the playoffs, it did look like the team was sputtering, but on the first day of April, the Bolts locked in a spot in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs with their 5-0 win over the New York Islanders.

Brayden Point. Boy, did the Bolts miss him during last year's run. After Tampa Bay ousted the Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening round, they ended up having to play the next two rounds (10 games total) without one of their top scorers due to injury. Strangely, they went 8-2 in that stretch en route to their third straight Cup Final appearance, which saw Point attempt to return, but that didn't last long. This season, Point is definitely, well, on point this season; 89 points, 48 of them goals, leading the team in the former category. Nikita Kucherov is the points leader, of course, with 106 of them, with 77 of them being assists. Finally, there's Steven Stamkos with 80 points (33 G/47 A); the team's top three definitely in their natural form, with defenseman Victor Hedman leading blueliners again with 45 points (8 G/37 A).

Andrei Vasilevskiy. What can I say about him that hasn't been repeated for the last three years. It can be said that Vasi is the best goalie in the NHL; the numbers and hardware do serve as merit. I did learn something about Vasi during last year's run: he's a perfectionist. A lot of goalies are, the good and great one tend to be, with Patrick Roy as the biggest example. I remember Vasi's face after Game Six ended. He had to be the most upset out of all of the players, even more so than Kucherov and Pat Maroon (the latter looking to win his fourth straight Cup that year). His Game Six performance was good, but he was outdueled night. This season: 34-20-4, 2.57 GAA, .918 SV%, and four shutouts. Vasi's definitely in form this season.

With the Lightning's playoff clinch, the first matchup is set: the Lightning will face the Maple Leafs in the opening round for the second straight year. Home ice hasn't been determined yet, but this should be a good series, especially based on how last year's was so close. The rest of the season will see the Bolts and Leafs battle out for home ice advantage in this series, but the real quest for the Lightning is maintaining their dynasty. Three Cups in four years is a dynasty. The NHL's last dynasty was the Edmonton Oilers from the latter half of the 1980s, with the team winning all five of their Stanley Cups in seven seasons. This year is the ultimate test. Is the dynasty alive or not? We will see in this year's playoffs.

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