By The Tampa Bay Lightning are on the verge of clinching a playoff spot, and they can do that with a win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday Night.
There are just eight games left in the regular season, and except for the season finale against the New York Rangers, every team that is on the Lightning schedule is battling for a playoff spot or better playoff positioning.
Points are tough to come by this time of year, and the Lightning have been scratching and clawing for every point they can get.
Every game the rest of the way will be a dog-fight. There will be a lot of tight-checking games, less open space, and the team that capitalizes on opponents’ mistakes will come out on top.
The Lightning are second in the Atlantic division, two points behind Buffalo, and just two points ahead of third-place Montreal.
Every team that the Lightning plays from now till the end of the season is against teams that have secured a playoff spot, or are two points within a playoff spot.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are fighting for their own playoff lives as they sit in second place in the Metro Division, eight points behind first-place Carolina, and three points ahead of the third-place New York Islanders.
The Lightning are coming off a 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday Night. A game in which the Lightning outplayed Montreal, but made too many mistakes in their own zone, and the Canadiens were able to capitalize.
The Lightning could be without Forward Brandon Hagel for a game or two, as coach Jon Cooper called his injury day-to-day.
Hagel is the third-leading scorer on the team, with a career high of 35 goals and 73 points, trailing Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel.
The Lightning will also be playing without Defenseman Victor Hedman for the foreseeable future. Hedman is currently on a personal leave of absence, and no one knows when he will be available to play again.
Defensively, the Lightning have shown flashes of being a structured, playoff-ready unit, but inconsistency remains a huge concern. Lapses in coverage and occasional breakdowns in front of the net have cost them in key games.
In these final eight games against top-notch opponents, the Lightning must focus heavily on defensive-zone discipline, boxing out more effectively, and reducing second-chance opportunities for opponents.
The Lightning have no more back-to-back games the rest of the season, so they should be able to manage Vasilevskiy’s load in goal and make sure he is fresh for the playoff run.
If the season were to end today, the Lightning would face the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, which would be a tough matchup.
A win, loss, or tie in any of the remaining games could mean a monumental swing in the standings.
The Lightning could secure a more favorable first-round matchup or a difficult first-round matchup against a top contender.
This is not the time for the Lightning to be overthinking things. They don’t need to reinvent themselves. They need to clean up the mistakes, refine the details, and build momentum.
If the Lightning can tighten up their defensive structure and get peak performances from their top players in Kucherov, Guentzal, Hagel, and Point, Tampa Bay will enter the playoffs as a team no opponent wants to face.
