The Tampa Bay Lightning are playing well as of late, but they are still ranked right around the middle of the pack in the various NHL Power Rankings across the Internet. We'll start with ESPN, who has the Lightning ranked 18th.
The much gnashing of teeth over the Lightning's defensive strategy masked a nice run by the club, which has won seven of 10 games. Maybe teams should worry about their own house and not what the Bolts are doing.
Next, the guys over at FOX, who are a little more optimistic and have the Lightning as the 16th best team in the Sport.
Dwayne Roloson has settled down in net, winning four of his last five starts.
Finally CBS, who also has the Lightning ranked 16th.
For all of the talk about their 1-3-1 week, a few things to consider about the Lightning: a) Last season Tampa Bay games were among the highest scoring in the NHL with an average of 5.79 goals per game, slightly above the NHL average of 5.59. So far this season their games are averaging 5.81 goals per game, also above the league average; b) They've been one of the worst teams in the NHL defensively, not only in terms of goals allowed at even strength, but also in the number of shots they allow. Let's not make them out to be the Scott Stevens-Scott Niedermayer New Jersey Devils.