Lightning still looking to improve as season hits home stretch

The Tampa Bay Lightning are virtually assured of qualifying for the postseason having opened up a 15-point lead on the next best team in the NHL with just 21 regular season games remaining.
In fact, it would take a monumental collapse for the Bolts to miss out on the playoffs the way the team is playing currently.

Everything is clicking with this Lightning squad. They're scoring more goals than any other NHL team. They're fifth for goals allowed and that number keeps reducing with each outing. The power play is connecting at a historic level. The penalty kill is nearly tops in the League too, just five-tenths of a point behind leader Arizona.
The Bolts have been dominating teams of late, having outscored their opponents 35-12 on their current seven-game win streak. They're dominating good teams too. Calgary was ranked second in the Western Conference when the Lightning beat them 6-3, and the Flames are currently second overall in the NHL standings. Dallas was one of the hottest teams in the League when the Lightning faced them. Tampa Bay steamrolled the Stars 6-0. In their latest set of games, a back-to-back set on the road against Columbus and Philadelphia, the Lightning overwhelmed a pair of teams fighting for their playoff lives.

So what's left for the Lightning at this point of the regular season? What more is there to play for over the final 21 games of the season?
"We look at every game as a different challenge," Ryan McDonagh said following the Bolts' morning skate Thursday. "Obviously, it's a different opponent each night but different guys in the lineup, different situations within the game -- come back, have the lead or a special teams kind of game -- I think we just try and approach each game as a different opportunity to improve in some area of our game. We're certainly finding ways to win in different fashions. We've proven that throughout the year. It does give us a little confidence as we continue on here and move closer to the start of playoffs. We're really just trying to be as sharp and as in sync in all areas of the game."
And that's the key for this Lightning team. They're already playing some of their best hockey of the season currently. The easy thing to do would be to coast through the final month and change of the regular season. But this team is different. They strive for perfection. They still see weaknesses in their game they'd like to correct. And they'll work on those minor details over the remainder of the regular season so that they continue to peak right into the postseason.
"Just going to approach this game like we've been approaching the last couple games," Bolts captain Steven Stamkos said. "It's been a good stretch for us. I think we've done a good job of eliminating scoring chances. Our goaltending's been exceptional, which has helped. We've really cracked down on trying to play the right way. We've got just over 20 games left. We just want to get into that rhythm where everything's just consistent every night and that's what we're looking for down the stretch here."
Tonight's matchup against the Buffalo Sabres offers the Bolts another opportunity to continue fine-tuning their game. The Sabres are one of just 10 teams in the League to defeat the Lightning in regulation this season when they won 2-1 in Buffalo on November 13. The Bolts ended Buffalo's 10-game win streak in a wild, back-and-forth 5-4 Lightning victory on November 29 that saw five lead changes. And the Bolts pulled away from Buffalo in a 5-3 win January 12.
All three games have been extremely competitive. The Lightning understand the challenge the Sabres present, even though they've lost their last three games and are on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. They expect a determined Sabres team to give them their best shot as they claw to get back into a playoff spot.

"As we saw with Columbus and we saw with Philly, there's desperation in these teams that are sniffing a playoff spot," Cooper said. "We've been kind of used to being in this position where more often than not we're getting a team's best effort. But it's a little different now just because the season, all of a sudden there's an ending in sight. These teams want to get in. And once you get in, you never know what could happen. They've had a couple unfortunate results here of late, so I'm sure we're going to get their best tonight. Just because of how tight the games have been, we've got to be on this."
HEDMAN UPDATE: It'll be a "game-time decision" whether Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman returns to the lineup tonight against Buffalo according to Cooper.
Hedman was a full participant in the Bolts' morning skate and returned to his usual spot on the top pair, this time alongside Anton Stralman. Hedman missed the final two periods of Tampa Bay's win in Columbus and did not play Tuesday when the Lightning defeated the Philadelphia flyers 5-2 because of a lower-body injury sustained in the win over the Blue Jackets.
If Hedman doesn't play against Buffalo, it would appear he'll undoubtedly be back for Monday's game at AMALIE Arena against the Los Angeles Kings, barring any unforeseen setbacks.