With a late comeback win, 4-3, over the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning now rank second in the Atlantic Division with six points. They are one of only three undefeated teams left in the NHL and the only one in the Eastern Conference. With a trio of wins to start the season, here are three takeaways from 2024-25 so far.
1) The Lightning Have Had Quality Wins Against Quality Opponents
The Lightning have also beaten the Carolina Hurricanes and Vancouver Canucks. All three teams made the 2024 Playoffs, and two of them reached the second round.
Yes, rosters change from year to year, but the Hurricanes’ core is still intact with Sebastian Aho, Martin Necas, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Andrei Svechnikov and Jacob Slavin. The same goes for the Canucks, with reigning Norris Trophy-winner Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and JT Miller still in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, the Golde Knights lost Jonathan Marchessault to the Nashville Predators this offseason, and William Karlsson is injured. But they still have Jack Eichel, one of their top scorers from last season, Mark Stone, who is healthy and contributing, and Ivan Barbashev, who is having a strong start. With those pieces and two solid goaltenders from last season, Vegas had a chance to beat the Lightning and almost did. The Golden Knights led 3-2 into the final minutes of the game.
These are high-quality teams that won 50 or more games in 2023-24 and will likely make the postseason again this year. Last season, after a win against the Predators to open the campaign, the Lightning lost 6-4 to the Detroit Red Wings, 5-2 to the Ottawa Senators and 3-2 in overtime to the Buffalo Sabres. All three of those teams missed the playoffs. Comparing last season’s start to this one, it seems Tampa Bay is performing much better out of the gate.
2) Nikita Kucherov Has Long-Term Award-Season Memory
Nikita Kucherov won the Art Ross Trophy last season after leading the league with 144 points, and so far, it looks like he’s going for back-to-back wins. But Kucherov is pushing for more hardware than just the Art Ross.
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In three games, he has six goals (including a hat trick) and seven points, putting him on pace for 164 goals and 191 points in 2024-25. Is it sustainable? No. That would shatter the single-season goal record by 72 goals, and there have only been six 190-point campaigns in NHL history – five belong to Wayne Gretzky.
But Kucherov could improve on last season’s totals. Even if he doesn’t reach 100 assists again, he could score 60 goals, and with 90 assists, would reach 150 points. Boom. A 150-point season would likely get him a second-straight and third-overall Art Ross Trophy. He might also be able to take home his second Hart Trophy as league MVP, which went to Colorado Avalanche Nathan McKinnon last season.
3) Stamkos’ Successor on Top Line Playing a Different Role (and That’s Ok)
Expectations were high for new acquisition Jake Guentzel coming into the season, mainly because he was chosen over former captain Steven Stamkos (who signed with the Nashville Predators this summer). Guentzel has yet to score a goal, and he’s not going to be the type of player who hovers around the circle ready to snipe a one-timer. But that’s ok. He doesn’t have to play Stamkos’ game to be a worthy successor on the top line.
Guentzel is still second on the team in points with three, behind Kucherov, and is the only other player averaging more than a point per game (1.33). Last season, it seemed that the only playmaker on the Lightning was Kucherov. Now Guentzel has been involved in a third of the team’s goals. He has been key to the team’s 3-0-0 start and will continue to be going forward.
The Lightning look to improve to 4-0-0 when they head north of the border to face the Ottawa Senators on Saturday afternoon puck drop is set for 1 p.m.
