There haven’t been many historic regular seasons like the one the Tampa Bay Lightning has had. This team will go down as one of the best if not the best regular season teams in NHL history. The team is so deep lead by forwards Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. Their goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy also had a big part in this historic season. If you look at the numbers, you will know how they earned the title as one of the best regular season teams in NHL history.
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s Historic season
By The Numbers
The Tampa Bay Lightning tied the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings for the most wins during the regular season in NHL history with 62. The Lightning had some impressive stats for their historic season. The Lightning posted a record of 62-16-4 which was good for a whopping 128 points. The Lighting finished 21 points ahead of the next best team. Here are a few stats for the 2018-19 Lighting.
- They became the second team in history to have four different win streaks of seven games or more in a single season.
- Averaged 3.96 goals per game which was the highest since 1996
- 29 come from behind wins which was a record
- Ranked second all time with 30 road wins
- Best Power play percentage at 28.2%. (84 Power play goals)
- Tied for first on the penalty kill with 85.0%.
- Led the league with 319 goals
Difference Makers
The Lightning have a lot of skilled players and their lineup is deep. One player that stands out is forward Nikita Kucherov. He won the Art Ross Trophy with the most points in the league. His 128 points tied his own team for most points on the season. His season has been very impressive and that’s why he is up for the Hart Trophy which recognizes the most valuable player (MVP) in the league. He played all 82 games and had 41 goals with 87 assists. He helped a lot on the power play as he had 15 power play goals.
Another big contributor to this season is goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy. He is a top candidate for the Vezina and might be the clear favorite to win it. Vasilevskiy played in 53 games and had an outstanding record of 39-10-4. He was first in wins with 39, ninth in goals against average with 2.40, tied for sixth in save percentage with .925, and tied for fourth in shutouts with 6. The team has a high powered offense to back him up but he has made some big saves in big spots for this team that allowed them to pull away.
Last Word
The Tampa Bay lighting is no doubt the monster and team to beat in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The teams that win the presidents trophy for the most wins in the regular season typically don’t do to good in the playoffs. The 1995-96 Red Wings team lost in the conference finals which isn’t a bad season at all the Lightning are looking for more to cement them as the best overall team in NHL history. The Lighting have the task of facing the last wild card team Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round.
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