The Tampa Bay Lightning's blogger roundtable is back. This feature, which has a number of independent writers weigh in on issues surrounding the team, will be a weekly column on the team’s website.
Today's question has to do with the team's great start to this 2013-14 campaign. Despite the fact that Steven Stamkos has been out since mid-November with a broken leg, the Lightning have remained right in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race. What factor can we attribute to this success? Below, I've posted my answer; you can check out the rest of the responses right here.
The Lightning arrive at the mid-way point of the 2013-14 season in second place in the Atlantic Division, despite having Steven Stamkos out of the lineup for 22 games. What factor do you attribute to the Lightning success, and what is the biggest question mark in the second half of the season?When Steven Stamkos went down with a broken leg back in November, many critics said the Lightning could not remain in playoff contention. Now with 25 wins through 41 games this season, the Bolts have positioned themselves for a playoff run.
It's hard to attribute that success to one single factor; I'm torn between two. Firstly, the impact that Jon Cooper and his staff have had on the group cannot be understated. He's brought the winning culture that made his teams successful in Syracuse and Norfolk right here to Tampa Bay. Cooper's systems are solid, and he seems to have an innate ability to get guys to play at a high level on a consistent basis. At this point in the season, I'd have him right at the forefront of the Jack Adams discussion.
With that said, if I'm being forced to pick one single factor to attribute to the Lightning's success, I'm going with the stellar play of goaltender Ben Bishop. It would be impossible to understate just how good he's been for a team that has struggled in the crease for a number of years. As of time of writing (Jan. 5), Bishop sits tied for first in the league with four shutouts and a .936 save percentage, third in the league with a 1.83 goals against average, and second in the league with 22 wins. That's Vezina-quality goaltending. Night in and night out, Bishop is doing more than enough to give his Lightning a chance to win hockey games. He's No. 30 in our programs, but in my opinion he's the No. 1 reason for Tampa's success this year.
I deliberately chose not to answer the second part of the question. What’s the biggest question mark moving forward? Well I think the answer to that is the same as the answer to the first part of the question. It’s Bishop. He’s the number one reason for success. Can he keep up the solid play? We’ll see. What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments section.
As always, thanks for reading.