Pluses, minuses for Lightning-Capitals, Jets-Ducks

Each Wednesday throughout the regular season, Kevin Weekes will be offering his pluses and minuses for the teams competing in the NBCSN Wednesday Night Hockey game in his Weekes on the Web blog.

The Tampa Bay Lightning (56-13-4) clinched the Atlantic Division, Eastern Conference and Presidents' Trophy with a 4-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Monday. They have nine games left in the regular season and look to keep rolling against the Washington Capitals (43-23-7) at Capital One Arena on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN).
The second game of the Wednesday Night Hockey doubleheader features the Central Division-leading Winnipeg Jets (43-25-4) against the Anaheim Ducks (30-35-9) at Honda Center (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TSN3).
Here's my breakdown of the games:

Lightning

Pluses: Steven Stamkos scored his 384th goal Monday to become the all-time leading scorer in Tampa Bay history. He's been scoring in all different ways and has 82 points (36 goals, 46 assists), which ranks third on the team behind Nikita Kucherov (117 points) and Brayden Point (87 points).
The young players like Anthony Cirelli, Yanni Gourde and Mathieu Joseph have played well all season, which has been a big boost for them, as have goalies Andrei Vasilevskiy and Louis Domingue.
Tampa Bay has lost two straight games only twice (Nov. 10 and 13; Feb. 5 and 7) and has only gone once without getting a point in two straight games this season (Nov. 10 and 13).
Minuses: When you have a plus-96 goal differential, it's hard to find any negatives. But I am curious to see when the games get more physical in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, if they are able to accept that and adjust to that and win some close games.

Capitals

Pluses:Alex Ovechkin is two goals from scoring 50 for the eighth time in his NHL career. Only Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy will have done it more (nine times each). He's one of the best of all time and continues to play like it.
The Capitals were able to turn their game around after their League-mandated five-day break in January. They entered it having lost seven straight and have gone 15-6-1 since. They have been refreshed down the stretch and are in great health with no injuries.
Minuses: Washington lost to Tampa Bay 6-3 on Saturday and will have to play better in this game to get a win. Everyone raises their level pf play against them since they are the Stanley Cup champs, but the Lightning are playing on another level right now.
The Capitals' penalty kill ranks in the bottom third of the League. That's not good, considering the Lightning have the League's best power play.

Jets

Pluses:The Jets have to be able to win those tight games and they did that on Monday (3-2 against the Los Angeles Kings) and have won each of their past three games by one goal. At times they are willing to open the game up, but they also need to win close games.
Blake Wheeler (88 points) and Mark Scheifele (79 points) are the two most consistent players on the team. Patrik Laine (29 goals) and Kyle Connor (28 goals) haven't been as consistent but have been big goal-scoring presences throughout the season.
The Jets also haven't tailed off defensively with the injuries to Dustin Byfuglien and Josh Morrissey. Tyler Myers and Jacob Trouba have stepped up in their absence.
Minuses:Prior to their three-game winning streak, the Jets were 6-9-2 in their past 17 games, including one win in five home games. That's not typical of them as they tend to dominate at home and led the League last season with a 32-7-2 record at Bell MTS Place.
They've had players out at different times because of injury, including Byfuglien, Morrissey and Nikolaj Ehlers. Those are three key players and they are a different team without them.
Can they be disciplined and stay out of the penalty box? Winnipeg has taken at least three minor penalties in 11 of its past 16 games.

Ducks

Pluses:Because they've been out of the playoff race for a while, the younger players are getting more experience. That includes Troy Terry, Max Comtois, Max Jones and Sam Steel, all of whom could be a big part of the team next year.
They haven't quit. They're 6-3-0 in their past nine games and have been scoring goals, which is something they have struggled with all season. The Ducks have scored at least four goals three times in their past seven games.
The Ducks have been better since firing coach Randy Carlyle and replacing him with general manager Bob Murray, playing .500 hockey (9-9-0).
Minuses:The defense struggled, and it was surprising considering it was the best in the League only a couple of years ago. John Gibson and Ryan Miller are arguably the best goalie tandem in the NHL and the defense let them down on multiple occasions.
They've had three losing streaks of at least seven games this season, including a team-record 12 straight from Dec. 18-Jan. 15. That came in a stretch where they went 2-15-4, virtually eliminating them from any shot at the playoffs.