Lightning Look Like The Team To Beat In The Eastern Conference

After stumbling out of the gate, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been excellent, going 8-2-0 in their past 10 games, including their 4-1 humbling of the New York Rangers Saturday afternoon to improve to 16-7-2 on the season.

The win also continues a now seven-game win streak, as they've stormed into top place in the Atlantic Division. And with due respect to the Metropolitan Division-leading New Jersey Devils, the road to the Eastern Conference looks like it’s going to go through Tampa Bay.

First of all, the Lightning have a thriving Andrei Vasilevskiy thus far this season. The 31-year-old has an 11-5-2 record, a 2.32 goals-against average, and a .917 save percentage. Those numbers are in the same area as Vasilevskiy’s bounce-back season in 2024-25, so you can see that consistency coming back to his game. And that should terrify Lightning opponents.

Also terrifying: Tampa Bay’s defense. They currently sit second in the NHL in goals allowed per game, with an average of just 2.60 goals-against per game. The Bolts’ defense corps started the season as a patchwork group, but they’re turning into quite an underrated group.

Lately, they’ve been doing it without injured star D-man Victor Hedman, who hasn’t played since Nov. 1. Once he returns, the Lightning will have a solid mix of youth and experience on the back end.

But the most fearsome part of the Bolts right now is their offense. In their current seven-game win streak, the Lightning have scored four goals or more five times. Star forwards Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel and Brandon Hagel all have at least 27 points, and the trio have combined for 40 goals. That’s a ton of production, and it’s coming from Tampa’s top-paid players.

Management has bet big on these guys, and they’re paying that back in spades.

It’s all adding up to the Lightning being the gold standard for teams not named the Colorado Avalanche right now. The Avs are in a class of their own, but the Lightning aren’t all that far behind them. And in the comparatively weaker East, they look ready, willing and able to beat every team that gets put in front of them.

The glory days of the Bolts aren’t necessarily in the past. This generation of Tampa stars could impose their will and add to their collection of Stanley Cups by winning it all this season. Thus far, few have been able to stop them.

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.