By The Tampa Bay Lightning are struggling. The Lightning find themselves in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar position as the NHL regular season winds down, losing two in Buffalo and Ottawa against teams they should have beaten.
Once viewed as a model franchise built on elite talent, depth, and championship pedigree, the Lightning are instead limping toward the playoffs with more questions than answers. Their recent stretch of poor play has exposed cracks that have been forming in the second half of the season, and with the postseason approaching, those issues have become impossible to ignore.
Inconsistencies are at the core of the Lightning’s struggles. This is a team that can still flash brilliance, dominating the opponent with crisp puck movement and offensive creativity.
But those moments are often overshadowed by lapses in defensive structure and a lack of sustained intensity. Too often, the Lightning have allowed games to slip away due to careless turnovers, missed assignments, or simply an inability to match their opponent’s urgency.
Opponents are generating high-danger chances at an alarming rate, frequently exploiting coverage gaps and slow transitions. Veteran defenders like Ryan McDonagh, once a staple on the blue line, have shown signs of wearing down.
Younger players like JJ Moser, Emil Lilliberg, and Charles-Edouard D’oustos have struggled to execute consistently within the system. The result is a team that spends far too much time chasing the puck in its own zone.
The team seems to forget what made them successful in the past and the formula for winning hockey.
We saw this style of hockey the last two seasons as the season wound down, and the Bolts were quickly extinguished in the first round of the NHL playoffs by the Florida Panthers in both seasons.
The Lightning have taken a step back in their most recent losses to the Buffalo Sabres 4-2 on Monday Night and to the Ottawa Senators 6-2 on Tuesday Night.
These are the games you need to be fine-tuning your game to make a successful run in the playoffs. The Lightning have not found that switch, while the teams chasing them in the standings are rounding into playoff form.
Every team the Lightning has played over the last week has been fighting for its playoff life.
Head coach Jon Cooper summed up the lackadaisical play of the Lightning after the loss in Ottawa on Tuesday. “For us, we’re a playoff team,” Cooper said. “We’re just not playing like one right now. And we only have a couple of games here to figure it out and see where we land. But we need to be better than we are right now.”
Injuries have certainly played a factor. Brandon Hagel has missed the last four games with a lower-body injury.
Anthony Cirelli missed his second straight game, and Pontus Holmberg is out indefinitely after hitting his shoulder on an unlatched penalty-box door in Buffalo.
But Cooper said he won’t use injuries as an excuse. “You can’t really ever use injuries as an excuse. I don’t know how many man-games we have lost this year, but it’s got to be up there in this league. We’ve had to deal with it all year.”
Playing with a third line that featured the top three scorers on the Syracuse Crunch, Jakob Pelletier, Conor Geekie, and Dylan Duke, the Lightning had made it a 1-1 game in the third period with a chance to get points out of the game, but couldn’t close the deal in a 4-2 loss.
It doesn’t matter who is in the net, Andrei Vasilevskiy or Jonas Johansson; both goalies have taken their lumps of late.
Although Andrei Vasilevskiy remains one of the league’s premier netminders, he has not been immune to the team’s defensive issues.
But Vasilevskiy has also failed to deliver the game-stealing performances that once defined him. His numbers have not matched the elite standard he previously set for himself.
Although the Lightning still have elite scorers in Nikita Kucherov, Braydon Point, and Jake Guentzel, when these two scorers are neutralized, the second and third lines have not been able to put the puck in the net.
For the Lightning to make a deep playoff run, they are going to need to find some depth scoring from somebody.
Special teams is another area that has once given Tampa Bay a significant edge, but has also been inconsistent.
The power play can still be dangerous, particularly when Kucherov is the quarterback, but it has gone through prolonged cold stretches at inopportune times.
Meanwhile, the penalty kill has been vulnerable, allowing opponents to take momentum. In tight games, especially the kind that define playoff hockey, these special teams lapses can be the difference between advancing and going home early.
The biggest factor in the Lightning’s mediocre play of late has been the lack of urgency. The Lightning have often appeared flat against lesser opponents. Games that should be routine victories have turned into frustrating losses, raising questions about focus and motivation.
Overall, this team has not consistently played with the desperation typically seen in teams gearing up for the postseason.
However, this is a team with a championship pedigree, elite talent, and a proven track record of success.
The path to a long playoff run requires a return to fundamentals and more consistent play.
Defensively:
-Tighten the overall structure
-Limit High Danger chances
-Play better in front of Vasileviskiy
Offensively:
-Get contributions from all four lines
Above all, the team must rediscover its sense of urgency and commitment to playing a full 60-minute game.
The playoffs have a way of transforming teams, and Tampa Bay’s experience could prove invaluable if they can regain their form. However, if their current issues persist, what was once a dynasty could face an early and disappointing exit.
