The answer Is yes, although right now it is hard to see that happening as the Lightning are firing on all cylinders.
The Lightning own the NHL’s best record at 32-7-1 with 66 points and have a 12 point lead on Toronto the second place in the Eastern Conference, and a 12 point lead on the No. 1 team in the Western Conference Calgary.
With the 6-2 win over the LA Kings, the Lightning reached the halfway point of the season and will play game 42 tonight in San Jose.
With their 66 points, the Lightning are on pace to be one of the best teams in NHL history as they are on pace for 132 points which would tie them with the 75-76 Montreal Canadiens for the most points in an NHL season.
The Lightning last lost a game on November 27 as they dropped a 3-1 decision to the Anaheim Ducks. Since then the Lightning have gotten points in 16 straight games which is two short of the franchise record of 18 set back in the 03-04 season.
Since the streak Nikita Kucherov has been red hot and has rocketed to top of the NHL scoring lead with 69 points which is 7 more than the second place scorer Mikko Rantanen of Colorado.
Kucherov has scored in 7 straight games which puts him 1 game behind the all-time leader Vinny Lecavalier Who holds the Lightning record with a point in 8 games.
After allowing 10 goals to Philadelphia and Montreal during the last homestand the Lightning have tightened up defensively and allowed 3 goals the last two games.
The Lightning defense has been a bit inconsistent this season as they rank 17th in the league giving up 2.90 GPG.
The competition will get a lot better for the Lightning the second half of the season as they match up with the Sharks tonight in San Jose to wrap up a brief 3 game road trip.
Toronto, Boston and Washington also show up frequently on the second half schedule as the Lightning have three gAmes per team.
The Sharks come in with a very potent offense having scored 145 goals on the seson and are averaging 3.45 GPG good for 5th place in the NHL. The Lightning lead the league in goals scored with 171 and are averaging 4.17 GPG.
Joe Pavelski leads the sharks in goals with 24. Brent Burns leads the team in scoring with 44 points.
Erik Karlsson one of the big free agents in the off-season has 3G and 33 points but the Sharks are still ranked in the bottom third defensively giving up 2.91 GPG.
The goaltending has been anything but stellar for the Sharks as Martin Jones ranks 32 out of 40 in the NHL goalie rankings with a 2.91 GAA.
-Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov will represent the Lightning in the all-star game In San Jose later this month. Kind of shocking that Brayden Point who is having a record setting season was left off the team but also surprised that Stamkos made the team. Point is one of the finalist to make the team in the special Atlantic Divsion voting which ends this weekend.
-Jon Cooper will again be coaching the Atlantic Division.
