Bolts beginning to hit their stride as the playoffs approach

With seven games remaining before the start of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, it looks like the Tampa Bay Lightning are beginning to hit their stride. The Bolts have collected seven of a possible 10 points over their last five contests and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 17-10 during that span.

There are still seven games remaining on Tampa Bay's regular-season schedule with three of them being played against teams currently holding a playoff spot in Toronto, Nashville, and Florida. The Lightning will play four of their final seven games at AMALIE Arena and have two back-to-backs to play before the conclusion of the regular season.
Following home games against Detroit and Toronto on Tuesday and Thursday this week, Tampa Bay will conclude a season-long five-game homestand against the Predators on April 23 before traveling to Sunrise for a game against the Panthers on April 24. After a home game against the Blue Jackets on April 26, the Bolts will travel to Columbus for a rematch on April 28 and close out the season at UBS Arena against the Islanders on April 29.
With two wins in a row and points in four of their last five games, the Lightning want to make sure they continue taking steps in the right direction and gain positive momentum heading into the postseason.
"It's huge, just getting our momentum going," said Lightning forward Ross Colton. "I think we were in a skid there for maybe a little bit over a month, but maybe it's good to get the adversity out of the way before the playoffs start.
"[We want to] kind of find our game here in these last seven or eight left so we can get some momentum going in the playoffs. I think that would be huge."

After making his NHL debut last season, Colton has taken a big leap for the Lightning in 2021-22. The Robbinsville, New Jersey native began his playing career with the Lightning organization during the 2018-19 season, skating in 66 games with the Syracuse Crunch after two years at University of Vermont.
In 66 games as a rookie with the Crunch, Colton scored 14 goals and added 17 assists for 31 points. The following season in Syracuse, he picked up 42 points with 11 goals and 31 assists.
After starting his third pro season on a three-game point streak for the Crunch, Colton earned a call-up to the Lightning and scored the game-winning goal in his NHL debut to help the Bolts defeat the Hurricanes 3-0 at AMALIE Arena. He finished his rookie season with nine goals and three assists for 12 points in 30 regular-season games before adding six points (4G, 2A) in 23 playoff games to help Tampa Bay capture their second straight Stanley Cup.
After starting his professional career with 14, 11, and nine goals, respectively, in his first three seasons, Colton has found his scoring touch in 2021-22 with 17 goals and 16 assists for 33 points through 72 contests.
"The one thing I remember last year, he played a few games when Goodrow went out," said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. "He played up there with Gourde and Coleman and he showed he could do that. He could check. He could play that physical game.
"The big thing for him, he's got a shot. When he's shooting the puck and letting it go, it's heavy and a lot of times it finds its way into the net, so he can add that offensive element to him."
Colton has spent the last two games playing on the wing with Ondrej Palat on the opposite side and Steven Stamkos down the middle. The trio remained intact during practice on Monday morning and will likely get a third game together on Tuesday night against the Detroit Red Wings.
"I love it," said Colton. "I think they make the game pretty simple for me out there and they're both veteran leaders who have been in my ear since day one saying, 'Play your game and [don't] try to do too much.' That goes a long way, hearing that from both of them.
"I think we've kind of got some good chemistry going right now, so hopefully we can put a few more in."
As the Lightning continue to look for the perfect line combinations entering the postseason, the trio of Palat-Stamkos-Colton looks like a keeper and the fourth line of Maroon-Bellemare-Perry has been together all season long. That leaves two more lines and two newcomers in Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul, who were both acquired by Tampa Bay at this year's trade deadline.
Over the last two games, Hagel has skated on a line with Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn, while Paul has been playing alongside Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point. The Killorn line has started to look more comfortable with both Hagel and Cirelli noting in the past week that the chemistry is building by the day.
Then there's the Paul line, which, over the past two contests, has totaled four goals and three assists for seven points. The size and hands of Paul have meshed well with the speed and skill that Kucherov and Point bring to the table and it looks like that combination could be a game-changer come playoff time.
"He's got great hands and he's got skill," said Cooper when asked about Paul. "He sees the ice. He can do all those things, probably better than I'd given him credit for coaching against him. You have to see the mental makeup when he comes into your room and playing with Point and Kuch isn't easy. It seems easy out there because they make it look easy when they're playing, but you have to have a certain skill set.
"You have to have a mindset to know where you have to be on the ice and a lot of times you have to go to some of those dirty areas because those guys have the puck so much. Paul is showing a propensity to do all those things, so we're giving him a look up there and, so far, he's been really good."
As Hagel and Paul continue to play in more games with the Lightning, the on-ice chemistry will keep growing stronger by the day. Behind closed doors, it sounds like the two newest members of the Bolts have meshed in just fine with the rest of the team.
"Yeah, both of them are pretty outspoken guys," said Colton. "I think if you go in the locker room right now, they might be the two loudest guys. They're always funny. They like to joke around and bicker with each other, so it's been great."
While Hagel and Paul have brought a lot to the Lightning in speed, size, skill, and more, the one thing they do not have is experience playing in the postseason. Both players will be making their Stanley Cup Playoffs debut when the puck drops on Game One of the Lightning's first-round series.

"It is a different beast," said Cooper. "The one thing is you have to simplify your game and I don't think you need to go into these situations and stress out and say, 'Oh my god, it's the playoffs.' It's not about that.
"It's about simplifying your game. That's the best way I can put it - understanding that it's not just one game. It's a seven-game series. These now are the marathons, not really the sprints."
There are a lot of players on the Lightning roster that have playoff experience, but only one has won three straight Stanley Cups - Pat Maroon. The St. Louis, Missouri native was asked what advice he would give to Hagel and Paul ahead of the postseason.
"Enjoy that moment and embrace it," said Maroon. "When it was my first game, I was just high energy going out there - hitting everything and just getting engaged right away.
"I'm assuming they're going to be the same way - excited. You know, there's going to be a lot of emotions and I feel like they're going to go out there and compete, embrace it, and enjoy the moment."
After making his playoff debut last season, Colton is confident that Hagel and Paul will quickly find their game when the puck drops on the postseason.
"They just say weather that first five minutes and then you kind of get your feet wet and it's fine," said Colton. "I think just the pace of play is going to be a little bit faster.
"I think that was kind of what hit me last year in that first series against Florida. We kind of knew what to expect, but I think just the speed is a little bit quicker and guys are more physical driving the net and finishing every check.
"[It's a] different type of game, but they're great players, both of them, so I'm sure they'll adapt right away."