A Monster Month: Following the Lightning’s shootout win over Anaheim on Thursday, Jon Cooper stated that the Lightning “are a tired group” right now. That’s understandable. The Lightning are in the midst of one of the busiest months in franchise history, playing 16 games in 29 days. It’s only the eighth time they’ve played that many games in a month, just the fifth under Cooper’s head coaching tenure. Compared to those other four instances, this one is the most grueling. Ten are road contests. January began with a cross-country flight to California, and the month features three separate road trips.
How do the others compare? In March of 2014, Cooper’s first full year as head coach, the Lightning had eight of the 16 at home, including a six-game homestand in the middle of the month. So there was a respite. In March of 2021, the Lightning played nine road contests. But that was the season of Conference-only play, so there were usually multiple games played in the same city. In April of 2022, the Lightning had 11 of the 16 at home and never left the Eastern time zone. Staying east was also the case in March of 2023, when the split was eight home and eight road.
The frequency of the games, coupled with the intense and lengthy travel, has limited practice time and rest time. Most of their games are being played against teams that have had more of an opportunity to practice and rest. The month includes four sets of back-to-backs, all on the road. This is a survival month.
Through 10 games, the Lightning have survived. After dropping the first three contests in regulation, the Lightning went 5-1-1 in the next seven. In many of their games, they’ve had segments in which they’ve struggled to play to their standard. But that hasn’t prevented them from adding standings points to their total. Ironically, perhaps their best overall performance occurred on January 4 in Los Angeles, a regulation loss.
Challenges remain. The Lightning begin a four-game road trip on Monday in Toronto. It’s another daunting travel week, one that features two back-to-backs against rested opponents. Three of the four games are divisional contests. Once the trip is over, however, the schedule’s dynamic shifts. The Lightning won’t leave home again until Super Bowl weekend.
The Tightening Atlantic: These divisional games for the Lightning have taken on added importance because the Atlantic race has tightened over the past several weeks. In November’s column, I wrote that the Atlantic Division appeared to be ‘mediocre’ because the teams below the playoff cut line had posted unremarkable records. That is no longer the case. Ottawa, Montreal, and Detroit have rapidly moved up the standings. They’ve put themselves in a position to secure a playoff berth.
The Lightning own just a 3-6-0 divisional record thus far. They still have 17 games left against Atlantic Division teams, so there’s plenty of opportunity for them to improve that record. But given the closeness of the race — and the possibility that the Metropolitan Division may claim both Wildcard spots — it’d behoove the Lightning to maintain their hold on one of the top three spots in the Atlantic.
