After last night's 4-1 victory in Winnipeg, it appears that hope has been restored for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Winners in three of their last four contests, there is now a sense of belief that the Bolts can make a late push for a playoff position.
In this week's "Lightning Mailbag" we have two questions. I would like to thank all of those who have sent in their questions or comments and encourage more of you to do so. Send your Lightning or general hockey questions or comments to
[email protected] and I will make sure to include them in next Sunday's post.
Okay, let's get started....
Who or what is most to blame for the Lightning's defensive and PK woes this year: Goalies, Defenseman, Forwards, Cooper, Rick Bowness and the defensive system, or other?
I have to preface this answer by saying that the defense has looked a lot stronger during this point-streak and the team is clearly doing better because of it.
I run the risk of not providing a clear answer but I believe that it is difficult to single out one aspect to shoulder most of the blame for the Lightning's defensive struggles. It really is a mixture of all of the things mentioned in the question above.
Until recently, both of Tampa's goaltenders, Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy, have had their struggles this season. Whenever your goalies struggle, it really doesn't matter how strong the defense is playing. With that being said, the Bolts could clearly use an upgrade on the blueline and that will be their number-one priority as the trade deadline gets closer.
What has crippled this team, in regards to defense, has been the frequency of careless turnovers committed in their own zone. Turning the puck over in your own zone only leads to bad things and the Lightning have simply done this way too much this season.
I always hear about NHL teams building their roster around 5 core players. Who do you think the Lightning's 5 core players are and are those 5 players good enough to win a Championship with?
For me, Tampa Bay's core five consists of Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Anton Stralman, and Jonathan Drouin.
As far as if the Lightning can win a Stanley Cup with this core, I definitely think that they can. However, I am a firm believer in teams having a strong supporting cast to go along with their core. It takes more than just five players to bring home a championship but if the Lightning intelligently builds around the five I mentioned, this team will be Stanley Cup Champions soon.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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