A Look at the Tampa Bay Lightning's Three-Year Run

As a diehard hockey fan, I really enjoyed this insane run from the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was something that hadn't been seen in the NHL in nearly four decades; going to three straight Stanley Cup Finals. It was an absolutely fun sight to see, and to think, in the first few years after losing the Cup Final in 2015, the Lightning actually had problems getting it done when it counted. The year after saw the Bolts in the Eastern Conference Final, but they lost a seven-game thriller to the Pittsburgh Penguins, while 2017 saw them out of the playoffs entirely. In 2018, the Lightning reached the Eastern Conference Final and led 3-2 after five games, but they suddenly forgot how to score--getting shutout in both Games Six and Seven by the Washington Capitals.

And then there's the 2018-19 season. The Lightning won 62 games, a franchise record and tied for the NHL record with the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings. They had award nominees all over. Nikita Kucherov won the Ross and was up for the Hart. Victor Hedman was up for the Norris. Andrei Vasilevskiy was a shoo-in for the Vezina. Head coach Jon Cooper was a finalist for the Adams. It was a foregone conclusion that this team was going to mow through everyone and win the Stanley Cup. In Game One, they led 3-0 in the first period, but that, ladies and gentlemen, is where the positives came to a bitter end. The Lightning not only lost that game, they would lose the next three, ending a six-day playoff run. The Tampa Bay Lightning won 62 games in an 82-game regular season. But in the playoffs? Zero wins.

It was bad enough that the Lightning became the first Presidents' Trophy winner to fail to win a playoff game. Even worse was who they lost to: the Columbus Blue Jackets. Entering the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Blue Jackets were the only team to have never won a playoff series. In fact, they had won a grand total of five playoff games entering that year. They won six in 2019 alone. The NHL Awards saw Kucherov win the Hart and Vasilevskiy win the Vezina, but they were clearly embarrassed to accept said awards. That embarrassment turned into anger, as well as a vow to never be humiliated like that again.

The 2019-20 NHL season saw them finish at 43-21-6 (92 points) entering the pause caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on March 12, 2020. It was announced months later that the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs would be modified, with the top 12 teams in each conference participating, totalling 24 teams in all. Because the Lightning finished in the Eastern Conference's top four (they were second behind the Boston Bruins), they participated in the Round Robin with the Bruins, Washington Capitals, and Philadelphia Flyers for seeding, with the Bolts maintaining the 2nd seed by winning two of the three games.

The Eastern Conference Quarterfinals saw the Bolts against the Blue Jackets, the same team who embarrassed them a season prior, but they were ready this time. After enduring and winning a quintuple overtime Game One, the Lightning won three of the next four to oust the Jackets, and they would go on to eliminate the Bruins (five games; Eastern Conference Semifinals) and the New York Islanders (six games; Eastern Conference Final) to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the 3rd time in franchise history. The Lightning completed their redemption story with a six game victory over the Dallas Stars; the final chapter in the story of a team who went from embarrassment in 2019 to being on top in 2020.

The Lightning liked that feeling so much, they decided to do it again in 2020-21 season. The abbreviated season (56 games) saw the Bolts in the localized Central Division, where they finished in third place behind the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers. This set up the first Battle of Florida playoff meeting, with the Lightning ousting the Panthers in six games. The Central Division Final saw the Bolts only needing five games to take down a strong Hurricanes team, and in the Stanley Cup Semifinals, Tampa Bay again faced the Islanders, this time needing seven games to return to the Cup Final. The Bolts defeated the Montréal Canadiens in five games to repeat as Stanley Cup Champions, joining the Pittsburgh Penguins (2016 and 2017) as the only back-to-back champions since the Detroit Red Wings achieved that feat in 1997 and 1998.

It was absolutely amazing. The Lightning were not stopping. In just two years, they went from being a playoff punchline to being worldbeaters, and they had a chance to become a dynasty entering the 2021-22 season. It was a bit harder; they lost a couple of the players from their championships, but they somehow made it work--narrowly avoiding being a Wild Card and moving into the Atlantic Division's Top 3. They faced a Toronto Maple Leafs team who was itching to change narratives, and ended up barely surviving in seven games. The next two rounds seemed easy; sweeping the Florida Panthers and then spotting the New York Rangers with two wins before taking the next four.

The Lightning were in the Cup Final for the third straight year, becoming the first team to achieve such a feat since the Edmonton Oilers did it in 1983-85. They were looking to become the first team to three-peat since the New York Islanders won four in a row to kick off the 1980s, but they ran into a monstrous Colorado Avalanche team, who lit them up with two clutch wins and an 11-3 combined score in the first two games. Unlike the East Final against the Rangers, the Lightning could not truly bounce back, as a 2-2 split in the next four resulted in the Bolts falling two wins short of history.

Not surprisingly, Nikita Kucherov led the way for the Bolts in the 2022 playoffs. Kucherov had 27 points (8 G/19 A) in the 23 games he played, but in the Stanley Cup Final, he only scored one goal. Strangely, Kucherov was the only player to average a point per game during the 2022 run; Ondrej Palat was second with 21 points, and was tied with Steven Stamkos for the team lead in goals with 11. Perennial Norris candidate Victor Hedman had 19 points, but only three goals in the 2022 playoffs. The Bolts had to play most of their playoff run without Brayden Point, as he suffered a quad injury in Game Seven against the Leafs, and was out for the next two rounds. Point returned in Games One and Two of the Final, but would be out for the rest of the series. In the little time he played, Point had only five points (2 G/3 A).

Now, I want to address those who are trying to put asterisks in this three-year run by the Lightning. Don't do that. Since the end of the 2020-21 season, I've seen the Lightning referred to as the "COVID Cup Champions," and they're also being mocked for winning in a shortened season. Avalanche fans stated during the 2022 Final that the reason why Tampa Bay was behind (and would go on to lose) is because that they "were playing a real team unlike the last two years." Let's make one thing clear, I was not among the Avalanche fans who said that.

Let me address the first comments first. Regarding the 2020 Cup, people say that the Bolts wouldn't have won under the normal format. The 2020 format was actually longer and a bit more grueling; Tampa Bay had to play seeding games before playing in the Round of 16, while some other teams had to play best-of-five Qualifying Rounds just to get in. And being mocked for winning in a shortened season is nothing new, but it doesn't happen to every team. I've never heard the 1995 New Jersey Devils being mocked, or the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks as well. About the "real team" argument: are the 2022 Avalanche better than the 2020 Stars and the 2021 Canadiens? Yes. But to say that the other two teams aren't "real teams" is ludicrous. Getting to the Cup Final is hard, but those two teams did it. Even the 2021 Canadiens, who were actually 18th overall in the NHL, made it to the Cup Final, because they won when it counted the most. Those teams should not be discounted.

A few more things; the 2022 loss ended the "one-man dynasty" known as Pat Maroon. Maroon was actually looking to win his fourth straight Stanley Cup; prior to being part of the back-to-back Cups with Tampa Bay, Maroon won in 2019 with his hometown St. Louis Blues, meaning that he had won 15 straight playoff series, an amazing feat. While Maroon fell short on being on the right end of history, Corey Perry ended up being on the bad end of a historical feat. Perry, who won a Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007, was in his third straight Final with his third different team, actually joining the team who beat him in 2020 and 2021. That didn't work out too well, and as a result, Corey Perry became the first player in NHL history to lose three straight Finals with three different teams.

The Tampa Bay Lightning went from winning 0 playoff games in 2019 after a 62-win regular season, to winning 48 playoff games in their three year run. The run has made a legend out of goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, as he won all 48 games in net, and racked up a GAA of 2.09 and had seven shutouts during this span. Again, I enjoyed this run from the Tampa Bay Lightning, because it wasn't anything I had seen in my lifetime, especially because parity had been at such a high level for years in the NHL. The loss to the Avalanche has some wondering if we are seeing the end for the Bolts, but I believe the 2022-23 season will tell the tale.

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