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For the third year in a row, the Tampa Bay Lightning have earned the right skate among the National Hockey League’s group of 16 that will vie for the Stanley Cup. And are set to square off with the Detroit Red Wings in a first-round battle of the Atlantic two-seed (Tampa) versus the Atlantic three-seed (Detroit) for the second straight season. Their epic 2015 series was a seven-game beauty, and really proved to be the kickstarter the talented Bolts needed en route to their first Prince of Wales Trophy since 2004.
But doesn’t it feel like your confidence in the team actually doing just that, between injuries and inconsistencies that have crept into their game, is pretty shot?
The Lightning enter the postseason with losses in 10 of their last 17 games of the regular season, and while the Bolts had bouts of playing well and losing, this stretch was anything but, for the most part.
And without top-line center Steven Stamkos (blood clot) and top-pairing defenseman Anton Stralman (fractured left fibula), the Lightning’s once-vaulted depth has taken a hit.
And that’s just the beginning.
Do-it-all forward Ryan Callahan missed the final three games of the regular season with a lower-body injury -- and played in just four of the Lightning’s final 12 games of the regular season for that matter. Tampa Bay’s other top-pairing defenseman, Victor Hedman, also missed the final three games of the regular season with an upper-body injury (though he said he will return for the start of the playoffs), and second-line -- de facto No. 1 -- center Tyler Johnson was injured in a meaningless hit in a meaningless Game No. 82 in Montreal, though the Bolts are hopeful that he’ll be good to go by Game 1 of the first round, and have termed him ‘day-to-day’.
It’s known that Stamkos, who underwent successful surgery on Apr. 4, will be out for the first round of the postseason. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper basically confirmed that in an appearance on NHL Live last week, in case that one-to-three month recovery time didn’t essentially guarantee that.
Stralman, still hobbling around on crutches and forced to allow the fracture to heal, something that cannot be accelerated with any exercise, doesn’t seem like a bet to return in this round, either.
So, no Stamkos and (likely) no Stralman. Not an ideal start, especially when you take a peek at Stamkos’ career figures against the Wings, which include seven goals and 10 points in just 14 games.
Still, I think there’s reason for hope when it comes to their round one series with Detroit.
For one, this Detroit team seems like an equally battered bunch. Perhaps not in terms of pure injuries, maybe, but the physical and mental toll that it took on the Red Wings to even get here seems real. Lest we forget that the Wings lost a near must-win game in their regular-season finale on Sat. against a New York Rangers club without several key pieces and Antti Raanta in net, and really only got into the postseason with help from a severely inept Boston Bruins group.
World-beaters, they are not.
Something Ben Bishop, who has nine wins and a .935 save percentage in 14 career head-to-heads with the Wings, can realize with a strong start in Wednesday’s Game 1.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.