Lightning clinch Stanley Cup Playoff berth for 9th straight season

The Tampa Bay Lightning clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the ninth straight season on Saturday.

The Lightning (47-22-6) qualified with the Detroit Red Wings’ 4-1 loss at the New York Rangers. With the Toronto Maple Leafs already having been eliminated from playoff contention, Tampa Bay is tied with the Colorado Avalanche for the longest active playoff streak in the NHL.

Entering their game against the Boston Bruins on Saturday (5 p.m. ET; The Spot, NESNplus), the Lightning are tied with the Buffalo Sabres for first in the Atlantic Division with 100 points each; Buffalo, which also clinched a playoff berth with Detroit’s loss, has a game in hand on Tampa Bay.

Forward Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with 124 points (41 goals, 83 assists) in 69 games, which ranks second in the NHL behind Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers (126). Forward Jake Guentzel is second on Tampa Bay with 83 points (36 goals, 47 assists), and forward Brandon Hagel is third with 73 points (35 goals, 38 assists).

Defenseman Darren Raddysh has set NHL career highs with 20 goals, 46 assists and 66 points in 68 games and ranks seventh in the NHL in points at the position. Defenseman and captain Victor Hedman has 17 points (one goal, 16 assists) but has been limited to 33 games this season due to injury. He is currently away from the team for personal reasons.

Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy leads the League in wins (36) and has a 2.34 goals-against average and .912 save percentage in 53 games.

The Lightning are averaging the second-most goals per game in the League (3.60), trailing only the Avalanche (3.78), and are third in goals-against per game (2.77).

Tampa Bay has the longest winning streak in the NHL this season at 11 games from Dec. 20-Jan. 13, part of a stretch in which it went 20-1-1.