Despite “slow” start for Tampa Bay Lightning, it could be much worse

Eight games into the 2023-24 season, the Tampa Bay Lightning have ten points with a record of 4-2-2. The Bolts currently sit in fifth in the Atlantic Division behind Boston, Toronto, Montreal, and Detroit.

It’s still early in the season, and the margins between what makes a good team and a bad team are small at this point, but considering the start some other teams are having, it could be much worse for the Lightning.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Mr. Brightside

After tomorrow’s game against Seattle, Tampa will already be one month into the season. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that teams can’t win the Stanley Cup in October, but they can definitely lose it with a terrible start out the gate.

Buffalo, a team that was expected to take a step forward this season, is sitting in dead last in the Atlantic. Pittsburgh, trying to hang onto hope as its dynasty fades away, is also sitting dead last in the Metro.

Out west, one of the preseason Stanley Cup favorites, the Edmonton Oilers, would be dead last with a record of 1-5-1 if it wasn’t for the historically bad start by the San Jose Sharks.

Even Seattle, a team that made it further in the playoffs than Tampa did last season, is off to a 2-5-2 start.

It is easy to write off these slow starts and think they don’t matter, but keep in mind that historically, 75% of the teams that are in a playoff spot on Thanksgiving are the teams that wind up making the playoffs come April.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are not without their flaws this season, and some of their struggles go beyond not having Andrei Vasilevskiy, but considering the alternative of how this season could be going early on, the Lightning are doing fine to keep pace.