We are halfway through the NHL, so what’s have we learned?
By Sam Fels
The Tampa Bay Lightning are running away with the whole league. And they’ll do some things we haven’t seen in a while.
One thing we know is that there’s no debate about who the best team is. The Tampa Bay Lightning can’t be caught., And the number are just stupid.
The Lightning are on pace for 130 points. No one since the Great Lockout of ’05 has come anywhere near that. The 2005-2006 Red Wings managed 124, and the 2009-2010 Washington Capitals accumulated 121. Funny enough, both lost in the first round of the playoffs, not a fate we’re predicting for the Bolts.
The only team to do it in recent history is the 1995-1996 Red Wings, who amassed 131 points. They also didn’t win a Cup. Hmmm..sensing a trend here.
They’ve lost eight games in regulation all season. Out of 43. That’s not even three a month. They just went 16 games without a loss.
They’re averaging over four goals per game. No team has done that since the ’95-’96 Penguins.
NIkita Kucherov is on his way to 135 points. No one’s done anything like that since 1996 as well, when it was Jaromir Jagr on that Penguins team.
We could keep going.
And none of this is a fluke. The Lightning are top-10 in all the metrics categories that nerds like me love, they’re just cashing in on more chances than anyone because they’ve amassed more talent than anyone. This is a historic team, and should be revered as such.