The season marches on, and three more teams played their 20th game Tuesday. One of those teams was the Tampa Bay Lightning, so it only makes sense to take a look at them right now.
Tampa Bay Lightning - 9-9-2, good for 20 points:
Last season, the Lightning were the surprise upstart team, finishing fifth in the Eastern Conference and then heading to the Eastern Conference Finals. The team hoped to build off that, I presume, but that has not been the case so far. While 20 points isn't bad, it is one of the worse totals in the league. They also have one of the league's worst goal differential at minus-12, due mostly to being 27th in goals against per game. It doesn't help that they were trounced 7-1 in their last game.
Unsurprisingly, Steve Stamkos leads the team with 11 goals and 20 points. Martin St. Louis (17 points) and Vinny Lecavalier (16 points) are doing well also. Additionally, Marc-Andre Bergeron is off to a hot start with 17 points.
Sure, guys like Steve Downie and Brett Clark have gotten off to slow starts, but the real issue is in net. The Lightning decided to rely on Dwayne Roloson, a 42-year-old goalie. So far, he has not paid off. In 14 appearances, he has a .887 save percentage. It could just be a slow start, or he could just be done as a player. Mathieu Garon, who has a .904 SV% so far, might have to shoulder the load.
Last year, the Lightning snuck up on people and got Steve Yzerman a ton of kudos. This season could see some significant regress. I don't think they will fall apart like the Colorado Avalanche last season. They have too much talent. Roloson could improve, Garon could be solid, or they could get another goalie. They have enough talent on offense to at least be decent with mediocre goaltending. So far they haven't gotten that, and that's why their start has been a disappointment.
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