Shortly after Thanksgiving, the Tampa Bay Lightning crushed the New York Rangers 5-1 to improve to four games over .500 for the first time in three years. The Lightning had the look of an NHL playoff contender, with offensive stars shining each night and stingy netminding between the pipes.
It appeared that the days of being the league's doormat were over for the Bolts.
Then, the bottom fell out.
Since starting the 2009-10 season 10-6-8, Tampa Bay is mired in a terrible 1-7-2 slump. Goal scoring is the primary culprit in the slide, as the Lightning have scored two goals or less in seven of the nine losses. Still, even when the Lightning score, it seems they can't get the "W" (as evidenced by last night's 7-4 loss in Nashville where a 2-1 first period lead deteriorated under a five goal second period outburst by the Predators).
In every NHL season, teams will go into slumps where they simply cannot find their game. Even top-notch teams can go on four or five game skids. When it stretches to 10 games, you begin to wonder if it's simply a slump or reality smacking you square in the chops like a Zenon Konopka right cross.
Aft ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by JC De La Torre
Tampa Bay Lightning Continue Their Troubling Free-Fall
December 16th, 2009 by JC De La Torre Leave a reply »
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