After Slow Start, Lightning Have Returned To Historic 2018-2019 Form
Tampa Bay is on a ridiculous streak at the moment
By BetQL Staff - Feb 18, 2020, 11:48pm EST
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Matthew Paulson, Flickr
Over their last 26 games, the Tampa Bay Lightning (40-15-5) are 23-2-1 overall and their three losses came by a total of three goals.
Just three of their 23 wins in that span came in overtime and one came as a result of a shootout.
When the Lightning took down the Colorado Avalanche on the road on Monday, it marked their 11th-straight victory, the longest such streak in the NHL this season and the longest in franchise history (surpassing their 10-game win streak from last year that they also tied earlier this season).
Tampa Bay became the second team in NHL history to record a pair of double-digit winning streaks in a single season.
The Lightning are now the third team in NHL history to be the fastest team to 40 wins in three or more consecutive seasons.
Per SB Nation’s Raw Charge website, “In aggregate, the Lightning have played plenty well enough to be deserving of the win streak. They’ve had to steal a couple of games but that’s to be expected. Good teams win games in multiple ways. The most sustainable way is to outplay your opponents to generate more shots and expected goals. But being an elite NHL team mean having the high end talent to steal games either with shooting or goaltending on occasion. During this recent stretch, the Lightning have had both. For most of the season, the Bolts have posted strong shot metrics. They’ve also kept up their shooting percentage just as they have during most of Jon Cooper’s tenure as head coach. The inconsistency in the early part of the season was largely due to the play in net. Any team that gets the combination of controlling play, shooting, and goaltending over a long stretch will be difficult to beat because even if one of those areas is just average on a given night, the other two will usually be good enough to give the team a chance to win. The challenge in the NHL is that teams rarely get consistently good performances in all three of those areas. That’s mostly due to the inherent variance in the nature of hockey but also partially due to the parity imposed by the salary cap and the draft. This winning streak is an example of what happens when all three parts of the game are clicking at the same time. The only question is whether the Lightning can find this level of play when it matters.”
As a result of their recent surge, the Lightning became the clear favorites to win the Stanley Cup and are listed at +500 on DraftKings, ahead of the Boston Bruins (+750) and Avalanche (+850).
The Lightning will look to continue their streak on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night. CLICK HERE to see the best bets for that game and click the button below to unlock all the valuable bets on tonight’s slate!
