Why are the Lightning Struggling to Win Games?

Four months ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning were on top of the hockey world. They had just accomplished a rare feat by becoming back-to-back Stanley Cup champions and all was right in the world.

Now, let’s fast forward a few months. A new season is one month old and the Lightning sit in a tie with Toronto for third place in the Atlantic Division.

That’s not horrible until you see the way they’ve lost games recently. Blowing leads late in regulation is a troubling trend for any team, but it’s more worrisome for one that’s made a living shutting down opposing offenses the past two seasons.

This brings up an important question, one that must be answered quickly if the Bolts plan to right the ship and make a serious run at the playoffs come spring. Why are the Lightning struggling to win games?

Power Outage

If someone had said prior to this season that the Lightning power play would be ranked in the bottom 10 so far, no one would have believed it. How could they with all world players like Victor Hedman, Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos and Alex Killorn shooting the puck from all different angles?

Obviously, the long term injury to Kucherov in Game 3 doesn’t help, but there’s still more than enough firepower on the man advantage to cause opponents headaches.

The real issue behind their 16.2 percent conversion rate thus far has been a tendency to over-pass, giving opposing teams time to adjust. Not only that, they send errant passes down the ice to help kill precious time. If the team would shoot from every angle they’ll hit the back of the net more often than not. Passing up glorious opportunities will prove costly, not only now but in the long run.

Scoring Woes

Another enigma for a team with so much speed and firepower to build a championship caliber top six. In fact, they had that the past two years. Unfortunately, the goal scoring has dried up early this season.

Obviously, the injury to Kucherov put a lot more pressure on Point and Stamkos. It also made gelling difficult, as players and lines were shuffled around. Stamkos started out with Point and Ondrej Palat but is currently centering a line with Killorn and either Anthony Cirelli or Mathieu Joseph.

He’s thrived there, evidenced by his three goals and five points in the teams last five games. Past that, however, the scoring has been non-existent. Point and Cirelli have nine points in 12 games played, while Palat has eight.

The biggest issue seems to be secondary scoring. Ross Colton has started slow, with only one point (a goal) in 12 games played. Joseph, despite a flurry of grade-A chances, has one goal in 12 games as well. Pat Maroon has a single point in 11 games, while offseason acquisitions Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Corey Perry have no goals and less than three points in the season’s early going. Even rookies Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk have struggled when they’ve been in the lineup.

Moving forward, this has to change. The Lightning need more offense out of Point, Cirelli and Palat, along with offense from their bottom two lines. The good teams have balanced scoring, with everyone contributing. That’s something the Bolts don’t have now, but will need if they plan to make the playoffs. Andrei Vasilevskiy can only carry this team so far.

Unnecessary Penalties

For a team struggling to score goals as is, being shorthanded doesn’t help build or keep momentum. In fact, it usually kills momentum.

Through 12 games, the Bolts are eighth in the NHL with 135 penalty minutes. That’s not good. Making matters worse, though, is the fact they don’t draw enough penalties to give themselves a chance to get back even. Their minus-9 differential ties the Nashville Predators for third out of 32 teams.

It should go without saying, but this is a statistic that must change sooner rather than later. The Lightning have lost points because of it. Take the Carolina game for instance. While an argument can be made that the penalty Stamkos took in the third period shouldn’t have been called, the players should be more aware in those situations. Clinging to a one goal lead against the top team in the Eastern Conference means playing smart hockey. Sending your penalty killers back out there in a season they’ve been used a lot is a recipe for disaster. That’s what happened too, as the Hurricanes tied the game on that power play and went on to grab the win in overtime.

Can the Lightning turn things around and start playing like the team that recently won their second Stanley Cup in less than a year? While they have time on their side, the current issues have to be addressed and corrected as soon as possible. They may be in a playoff spot now, but that can change if this team doesn’t start winning games.