The Tampa Bay Lightning head into the All-Star break on a high note, beating the New Jersey Devils once again at Amalie Arena by a score of 6-3. They’re starting to look more like the team we’ve gotten used to seeing over the last decade. Regardless of where they would be in the standings if their opponents didn’t have games in hand, it’s undeniable the Lightning have done their part to be in playoff contention.
On Jan. 7, when they were 41 games into the season, the mathematical halfway mark, the Lightning were 19-17-5 and outside of a playoff spot. Their minus-9 goal differential and 5-5-0 record in their 10 games at the time were a solid reflection of how their season started. Since then, they’ve been on a tear going 8-1-0 in their last nine games. Their goal differential has jumped to plus-11, a 20-goal swing.
Let’s look at what’s electrified (pun intended) this Lightning squad over this stretch.
Rookies Bring Spark to the Lightning
Throughout the rookie carousel the Lightning have been operating as of late, some have made a noticeable impact. The team needed depth, especially on defense, and they’ve found some reinforcements in-house.
Forward Waltteri Merela has seen the most action thus far among rookies with 19 games under his belt. He has two assists for two points in his young career. While he’s yet to be a major factor in the scoring, he’s brought to the team some added physicality and defensive help. He has 25 hits so far this season along with six blocked shots. Emil Lilleberg, Max Crozier and Mitchell Chaffee have all been much-needed help in the defensive game as well.
While he still needs some work on turnovers, Lilleberg has made up for it by blocking 10 shots in 10 games. Like Merela, he’s contributed muscle with 32 hits in 10 games. Crozier has benefited the team more from skill than physicality. He’s not racking up hits, but he has five takeaways in seven games.
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Then there’s Chaffee, who had the honor of being the first of his fellow rookies to score his first career goal. He also had his first multi-point game, picking up an assist.
Crozier, Chaffee and Merela were re-assigned to American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Syracuse Crunch on Sunday (Jan. 28). While no specific reason was stated, we’re going to speculate here their reassignment is related to playing time. The Lightning don’t have another game until Feb. 7 – 10 days from now – and the Crunch have three games ahead of the break. No reason to have them sitting around when they can keep playing and stay in a groove. It’s possible that someone could be returning from injury, but when it’s all three at once, playing time just seems more likely of a reason.
More Production From Notable Lightning Names
This statistic has continued to stay true all season. The Lightning don’t lose when Nick Paul scores a goal. The team is 11-0-0 when he finds the back of the net. They haven’t done so badly when he gets at least a point either. They’re 16-1-0. So, how does this trend work into the latest stretch? Simple.
Paul has had five points in his last seven games, including two multi-point games. He opened scoring with a goal against the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 20 en route to the Lightning’s fifth win in a row. Then, he scored a goal against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday (Jan. 27) to win their third straight, which in turn is their eighth win in nine games.
Brayden Point has 12 points in his last eight games. The Lightning need their stars to produce if they’re going to contend, and Point has started to deliver once more. He’s had at least a point in seven of his last eight games, including four multi-point games.
While he’s had a solid season in general, Brandon Hagel deserves a shoutout for his production over the last nine games as well. He’s had 11 points over that span, including five goals. This is a bump in production from 0.78 points per game in his first 41 games to 1.22 points per game in his last nine.
Between a boost from current mainstays and the rookies, one word can sum up why the Lightning have been able to see themselves on the winning end of more games: depth. It plagued them for most of the year to this point, it’s suddenly found its way to Tampa and been a saving grace.
It gives the team more opportunities to score and put pressure on the opponent. They can’t just put their focus on a player or two and stifle the Lightning’s game plan. There’s a lot of hockey left to determine if this is sustainable long-term. But nine games, more than one-tenth of the season, is a good start and sample size.
