The Tampa Bay Lightning were one of the NHL's worst teams in the first weeks of the season. Now, they look like one of the favorites to represent the East in the Stanley Cup final.
Two weeks into the season, the Tampa Bay Lightning looked like their contention window had slammed shut.
The Lightning had one win in their first seven games and had the fewest points in the Eastern Conference.
Fast forward to mid-season, and the Bolts are the NHL's hottest team, sitting atop the East in points percentage (.670) and goal differential (plus-43). They're now among the early favorites to represent the conference in the Stanley Cup final.
Not bad for a team that has three defenders on the injured list.
Buoyed by a winning streak that reached 10 straight Monday with a 5-1 win in Philadelphia, Tampa is clicking on all cylinders.
That includes left winger Brandon Hagel, who scored his 22nd goal of the season on one of the Lightning's two power-play goals on Monday.
"I think our special teams were great," Hagel said. "When you win 10 in a row, everyone's doing their job. Obviously, we got the saves when we needed it, our PK when we needed it, and our power play when we needed it. I think that's a big part of why we're on the streak that we are."
Winning For Brayden Point
The victory, the 600th of Jon Cooper's storied coaching career, may be costly because veteran center Brayden Point exited the game with an apparent knee injury, suffered while scoring a second-period goal as he got tangled with Flyers defenseman Cam York.
"It's a scary feeling, especially when you see he way he went down," Hagel said. "Everyone wanted this (game) just for him."
Cooper didn't have an update on Point's status, other than he was travelling with the team to Pittsburgh for Tuesday's game.
"The tough part for Pointer is that his game had really turned the corner," Cooper said. "It seemed he was scoring every night. He's a big part of us. Let's just hope everything turns out all right."
During Tampa's winning streak, Nikita Kucherov has led the way. The 32-year-old right winger has 25 points in the 10-game surge, including 10 goals and 15 assists. He has multiple points in each of his last nine games and a staggering 16 points in the last five games. He's now up to 23 goals and 67 points on the season.
Tampa, which has a difficult game Tuesday against the Penguins, is now 16-4-3 on the road, and it has started its five-game trip with 7-2 and 5-1 wins over the Flyers at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Overall, the Bolts have a win streak in double digits for the fourth time in franchise history. During the last 10 games, they have outscored their opponents 50-25.
"Our puck management has been pretty darn good," Cooper said. "When we get in trouble, we try to manufacture offense out of nothing and try to make plays when they're not there." That hasn't happened much during the streak, he said.
"I'm a big believer in, if you protect your own end, the other end will look after itself, and it has for us," added Cooper, who said some "really good players have made me look good" on his road to 600 wins.
Vets And Unknowns Spark Streak
Tampa has gotten great production from its veterans, including Kucherov, Jake Guentzel, Hagel and Point. They're big reasons why the Lightning are second in the NHL in scoring, with 3.57 goals per game.
Down at the other end, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy has won his last seven starts and has been his typically brilliant self, with a 2.33 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.
Besides the vets, Tampa has overcome its injuries with contributions from lesser-known players.
Top-flight veteran defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Victor Hedman are sidelined. Ditto defenseman Emil Lilleberg. No matter.
Late-blooming defenseman Darren Raddysh is having a breakout season, with 12 goals and 39 points, including 12 points over his last six games. His top-pairing partner, J.J. Moser, leads the team with a plus-37 rating.
Depth players, such as left winger Gage Goncalves (seven points in last eight games) and defensemen Charle-Edouard D'Astous (five points in his last seven games), Max Crozier and Declan Carlile, have logged important minutes.
"All of them have been doing a good job," Hagel said of the patched-up defense. "They must have some good chemistry back there. But like I said, for this (streak) to happen, everybody's got to be doing their job, from the goalie all the way out to the forwards."
Put it all together, and you have a team with its eye on the prize, especially when it gets three of its top defensemen back in the lineup. Even without them, the Bolts somehow are second in the NHL with a 2.59 goals-against average, a testament to their goaltending, their system under the masterful Cooper, their defensive depth and the strong two-way play of their forwards.
They may not be the high-flying Colorado Avalanche, but the Lightning are looking like one of a handful of teams that can be highly competitive against the mighty Avs.
"Part of the reason we've won the way we have is because we have a pretty tight group in there," Cooper said. "So if something (negative) happens, our boys circle the wagons."
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