Tampa Quarter Season Review

By BigMac3110
Updated: December 27, 2020

The first 20 games of the year have certainly been interesting for the Tampa Bay Lightning. So far this year they have gone 12-1-4-3 and are 1st place in the east by 3 points. With no clear cut star on the team it is most certainly impressive. The depth on the team has been at the forefront for sure.

The Bolts currently have 6 players who have 18 points or more so far this year. 5 of them are within their top 6 forwards, with those players being Svechnikov, Horvat, Couture, Kubalik and Danault. Kovalchuk also has 18 points in 20 games. The Bolts have also got a good amount of offence from the backend. Girard has put up 3 goals and 11 assists so far. Petry and McAvoy have both been pretty productive as well, putting up 11 points and 8 points respectively.

Along with the elite level production from their players, the Bolts have also got some great goaltending. Francouz has put nay worries that he wasn;t good enough to be thus far as he has a 10-3-3 record, putting up a 2.04 GAA and a .928 save %. Greiss has been good in the backup role as well. Putting up a 2-1-1 record and a .906 save%. Overall the Bolts have been great all around thus far.

One aspect of the team that is likely overlooked is their physicality. Currently the Bolts lead the league in hits with 495 total hits. The second most hits thrown are by the Blue Jackets who have out up 485 hits, but they have also played one more game than the Bolts have. It seems that the physicality of the team might be making up for a lack of a true superstar caliber player.

Team MVP

If I had to name the team MVP to this point I’d have to go with Phillip Danault. Francouz has a strong case as well but Danault really has been fantastic for the Bolts. Leading the team in points with 25 while playing on the 2nd line is fantastic. Add in the fact that he has put up 39 hits as well and is the best penalty killing forward on the team and his value is immeasurable tot the Bolts.