Best Lightning Team in Franchise History?

By Jake Ricker

The Lightning are currently taking the NHL by storm as they sit atop of the league with a record of 28-7-2 (58 points) and are 8 points ahead of the second place Toronto Maple Leafs. One thing that has been said about this team is that there is just a different feeling in the locker room. Pierre LeBrun even told us in a tweet that when asking Mike Babcock about chasing Tampa Bay for first in the division he said: “Tampa is better” and then went on to talk about the maturity in Tampa’s game. Joe Smith also said in a tweet that “Lightning players have said this group has a different feel. Not rattled in any situation, strong belief they can find a way with depth to deliver. Jon Cooper calls this his most “complete” team, able to play the skill, speed and heavy game if need be.” With the Lightning having found so much success this year many are asking if this is the best Lighting team we have ever seen? So throughout this article, we will take a look at this years team and past teams stats, schedules, and balance to see if we really are witnessing the greatest Lightning team of all time.

First, let’s take a look at this years team and how they have been doing. As for the roster, this team is nearly identical to last years with a few bottom 6 guys like Dotchin, Peca, Sustr, and Conacher. So what makes this team so mature? The explanation for this is actually quite simple. These Bolts payers now have multiple (or at least 1) years of experience in the NHL. The only exception is Mathieu Joseph and Erik Cernak, which is still less than last year. By keeping a similar roster, this helps a team build chemistry, and that’s just what the Lightning have done over the previous few years. Now as we mentioned before the Lightning are far ahead of the rest of the teams in the NHL, but believe it or not they have a near identical record to what they had last year by this point as they currently have 1 more win. The Bolts have scored 151 Goals so far this season which is 12 goals ahead of last year. As for Specials teams, the Bolts are again doing better than they did last year by a few percent. The notable difference being in the penalty kill, the Bolts are playing a much more aggressive role this year. They will be quick to jump on players and force them to make a quick pass or take an ill-advised shot that is only blocked or ends up wide. This has lead to the Bolts racking up 5 shorthanded goals, which is already over half of the shorthanded goals they scored last year. When looking into the goaltending situation, it is very similar to last year with the main difference being that this is Domingue’s first full year and has played at a consistently high level. The next thing to consider is what teams the Bolts have played 8 out of the top 10 teams and have beaten 6 of them. This season has been far from disappointing and the Bolts are a role, but let’s take a look at some of the Bolts past seasons.

Now let’s take a look at last years record-breaking season for the Bolts. As we already mentioned the Bolts had a very similar record with the only difference being 1 win. This was the first year we got to see some of the very electric lines by the Bolts that have continued to dominate into this season. However, there is two main difference that stand out between last years team and this year. The first being in the special teams, and while the percentages are not too far off there is a noticeable difference in the way they played. Last years penalty kill played a much more passive role looking to break up passes or block shooting lanes. While this worked, it has not worked as good as the Bolts penalty kill so far this year. As for the power play things are mostly the same as their style remains to make a few nice passes and get that wide open shot. The next considerable difference when looking at their schedule. By this point in the season, the Bolts had only beaten 2 fo the top 10 teams with most of them being even in the series at 1 a piece. This was an outstanding year for the Bolts, but things seem to be going just a little bit better for the Bolts so far this year.

When looking at the best season for the Lighting, you can’t leave out the Bolts 03-04 Stanley Cup season. Record-wise the Bolts bolts were 16-14-6 by this point in the season. This record is by far not as good as this year with the Bolts having 22 more wins so far. When looking at special teams, the Bolts penalty kill was at its best as they finished the season with an 84.9% success rate which is close to the Bolts success rate this season. But the big difference is in the power play. The Bolts had only a 16.2% success rate by the end of the season which is considerably lower than this year. Now the Bolts had a much different roster back in the 03-04 season. However, the spread of talent is much different with the Bolts having a total of 8 players scoring 10 or more goals. The Bolts already have 5 players at 10 goals this year and 3 more just 1 goal away from reaching the 10 goal mark (the Bolts had 11 last year). For Assists, the Bolts had 13 players with over 10 assists, and the Bolts already have 11 players who have reached this mark (the Bolts had 15 players reach this mark last year). A big part of this team’s success was goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin who set multiple Franchise records for the Bolts. Backup goaltender John Grahame was also big for the Bolts as he racked up 18 wins himself.

After looking at these three teams, This year’s team, the record-breaking team, and the Stanley cup winning team, the Bolts this year are considerably ahead of where they have been in the past. And this holds true for other years that we did not include in this list. For example, the 2015 Bolts team that made the Stanley Cup finals was behind in wins and had a lower power play percentage. Even for the 2013-2014 team that was the second to break 100 points this still holds true. The Bolts are playing better across the board, and a big part of it is that they are not just finding success in one area. However, perhaps the biggest reason that this year just feels different is that the Bolts are not only beating teams, but they are beating good teams. As mentioned before the Bolts have played 8 out of the top 10 teams and they have beaten 6 of them. With the Bolts playing at their best and defeating the top teams in the NHL. It’s safe to say this is the best Lightning team we have ever seen.

Now please keep in mind that we haven’t even reached the halfway part of the season and a lot can change very quickly. All stats are as of December 23rd and are subject to change by the time you read this article. Let us know if you agree with us, and if you too have this feeling that we are witnessing something special!

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