For the seventh-straight season, the Tampa Bay Lightning are heading to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Bolts officially clinched a spot in the postseason Friday night and will look to make a trip to the Stanley Cup Final for the fourth time in the past five seasons when the playoffs kick off April 20.
Led by a career season from Nikita Kucherov, the Lightning have six games remaining in the regular season before the quest for the Stanley Cup begins. If the team collects six more points, they will surpass last season’s point total of 98.
Kucherov has already collected 133 points this season (43-90—133), a new Tampa Bay franchise record for most points in a single campaign. The Hart Trophy candidate will look to carry that success into the postseason, where he has already had immense success with a franchise-leading 160 points in 142 career postseason contests.
Kucherov’s 160 career postseason points are the third-most among all active NHL skaters, trailing only Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Kucherov’s 1.13 points per game tops both of the Pittsburgh skaters.
With perennial playoff performers like Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Brayden Point, Tampa Bay will likely start the postseason on the road as they look to make a run at a fourth Stanley Cup championship.
Despite joining the NHL ahead of the 1992-93 season, only 11 NHL teams have won the Stanley Cup more times than the Bolts, who have captured the trophy three times over their 31-year existence.
Since the organization’s inception in 1992-93, the Lightning have won 123 playoff games, tied with the New Jersey Devils for the fourth-most playoff wins during that span. The only teams with more are the Detroit Red Wings (163), Pittsburgh Penguins (152) and Colorado Avalanche (147).
Tampa Bay will look to push that number to 130-plus when the postseason kicks off later this month.
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