The Tampa Bay Lightning has found much success this season, but if they want to continue their winning ways, they will need to find some sort of consistency…and fast.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has gotten off to a fantastic start this season. Even taking into consideration the Lightning’s embarrassing loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday night, the Bolts have still managed to maintain a 15-3-2 record, which still affords the team a spot atop the Atlantic Division.
However, there are some lessons to be learned from the Lightning’s deflating 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders. The biggest, and most important, lesson to be learned here is consistency is the key to victory. Without it, everything you’ve worked so hard to achieve can be taken away in an instant.
As we dig a little deeper into this situation, let’s use Saturday night’s game against the Islanders as a basis for comparison. The Tampa Bay Lightning allowed things to get way out of hand in the opening seconds of the game. Their passing game, which has been pretty fantastic for a good portion of the season, was completely unhinged, allowing for a majority of the Islanders’ goals.
The Lightning has always been a terrific third-period team; however, you can’t always depend on a last-minute surge to save a game. Even the most elite players (here’s looking at you Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov) cannot be depended on to pull a team out of a self-inflicted deficit. There simply must be some sort of consistency in the game if a team wants to be successful throughout the season.
First, the team needs to come out of the tunnel and onto the ice with purpose. When the Bolts are facing some of the more high-caliber teams in the NHL, as they will on Wednesday night when they take on the Chicago Blackhawks, they are going to have to make their presence known early if they want the upper hand.
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At the same time, the Lightning doesn’t need to set the bar so high they cannot continue to maintain the aforementioned pace throughout the remainder of the game. There have been far too many times this season when the Lightning has gotten off to an early lead only to blow said lead in the following two periods by getting far too comfortable on the ice.
In order for the outlaid plan to work, the team has to work as a whole. This means every single member on the ice has to do their part. Right now, there are a couple of players who have been less than stellar this season. At this point, we’re not naming names. Most of you know who they are, and this is another story for another day.
As the season progresses, there could be a couple of players who will find themselves on the trade block. This doesn’t mean these players aren’t talented. It simply means they don’t fit the Lightning’s current system and changes need to be made. While this may be unpleasant for some, it is definitely for the greater good.
The Lightning has the ability to work together as a well-oiled machine. If not, they would’ve never made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2015. Now that the team has both their captain and their leading goal-scorer (once again, here’s looking at you, Stamkos and Kucherov) healthy at the same time, the team has all the potential in the world to reclaim their spot at the top of the National Hockey League.
Unfortunately, unless the Bolts can find a way to play a consistent 60 minutes of hockey, their train to success is going to be derailed before you can say the words “Go Bolts!” This is definitely not the way the team, or their fans for the matter, want the team’s 25th Anniversary Season to come to a close.
The Lightning has an intense challenge in front of them. On Wednesday night, they will once again open the doors to the Amalie Arena to both their fans and their opponents. They will be taking on captain Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks in a rematch from the 2015 Stanley Cup Final.
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If the Lightning wants to right the course and get back on the right track, they are going to have to pull out all the stops and bring their ‘A’ game with them to the Arena on Wednesday night. Without a doubt, consistency will play a big factor in the outcome of this East vs. West showdown. Let’s hope it’s the Lightning raising their sticks in victory when the final buzzer sounds.