Lightning Season Review/Playoff Preview

The Tampa Bay Lighnings 82 game regular season concluded yesterday, and as everyone expected they were one of the top teams in the entire NHL and enter the playoffs as one of the favorites to take home the Stanley Cup. Let's quickly review some numbers from the Lightnings regular season.

The Lightning finished the season with a 32-9 home record, far and away the best in the NHL. The second best home record in the league was Nashville who went 28-13, a healthy four wins less. Unfortunately their road record was much worse, as the Bolts only went 18-23 on the road, which is the worst road record among the 16 playoff teams. Overall the Bolts 50-32 record was good for the 5th best record in the NHL out of the 30 teams. The Bolts also went 14-1 (WOW) in home games against division opponents, the best record in division home games in NHL history!

The Lightning didn't build up their great record just by beating weak teams either. The Bolts were at their best against their best opponents. As I said, the Bolts finished with the 5th best record in the NHL. Their record against the 4 teams that finished ahead of them? 10-2. The Rangers finished with the best record in the NHL but the Bolts dominated them all year long going 3-0 against them by a combined score of 15-7. The Canadiens barely edged out the Bolts for the division title, but its not because they could beat the Bolts, as Tampa finished 5-0 against the division winning Canadiens by a combined score 21-8.

The Bolts finished the season with 259 goals, or 3.16 Goals Per game, best in the NHL. Only two other teams average 3.00 goals per game. The Bolts allowed 2.51 goals Per Game, which was 12th in the NHL. The Bolts average a whopping 3.39 Goals per game at home, again number one in the NHL.

The Lightnings first round opponent will be the Red Wings, another team they faced very well against in the regular season. Tampa managed a 3-1 record against Detroit by a combined score of 12-9. The Bolts won their two home games against Detroit by a combined score of 8-2. My Prediction: Bolts in 5

Go Bolts!