Without Steven Stamkos, Lightning sunk
The Tampa Bay Lightning are trying to get back to the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive season, but those odds took a huge hit on Saturday.
Before the start of Tampa Bay’s tilt against the New Jersey Devils, rumblings began that something was wrong with the star forward. After first being termed an upper-body injury, it was revealed that Stamkos has a blood clot in his arm and will be undergoing surgery to fix the problem on Monday. More pressing for Lightning fans, Stamkos will miss 1-3 months while recovering, according to ESPN.
“Obviously, this situation is extremely disappointing because I wanted to help my team clinch a playoff spot and prepare for the start of the postseason,” Stamkos said in a release. “During my recovery, I will do all I can to help my teammates, and I hope to rejoin them soon in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.”
Should Stamkos miss the full three months, he is out for the remainder of the season. A month would put him out for the rest of the regular season and the first two rounds, something Tampa Bay might be able to survive.
With four games to go in the regular season, the Lightning are two points behind the Florida Panthers in the Atlantic Division for the top spot. Should things hold to current form, Tampa Bay would take on the Detroit Red Wings in the Atlantic Division semifinal before facing either Florida Panthers or New York Islanders in the Atlantic Division final.
Tampa Bay could very well beat any and all of those teams without the services of Stamkos, but it is not going to be fun trying. The Lightning have the 11th-ranked offense in the game and rely heavily on Stamkos, who leads the team with 64 points and 36 goals. In fact, only Nikita Kucherov also has more than 20 goals on Tampa Bay, notching 29 to go with 32 assists.
However, the biggest problem for the Lightning might be their power play. The unit already sits a mundane 25th in the National Hockey League and Stamkos has a team-high 14 markers on it. Without Stamkos, Tampa Bay has no trigger man and in the playoffs, a stagnant power play can spell doom.
The Lightning will have to hope goaltender Ben Bishop can shoulder the bulk of the load going forward. The Vezina Trophy finalist last year has a 2.02 goals against average and a .928 save percentage this season, proving 2014-15 was no fluke. Should the Lightning want to make another serious run at Lord Stanley, Bishop will have to be absolutely brilliant.
For Tampa Bay, the Stamkos news could not come at a worse time. Yet, should Stamkos recover quickly, the Lightning have enough talent to get by and get healthy at precisely the right moment.
