Whatu200b the hell isu200b happeningu200b tou200b theu200b Lightning?
That’su200b theu200b big questionu200b in the NHLu200b these days, andu200b honestly,u200b I have nou200bu200b idea. None. I know there are easy narratives we can grasp at – They’re not built for playoff hockey! They don’t want it bad enough! They haven’t had to face enough adversity! – but I think we all realize on some level that it’s nonsense. Teams that rack up 62 wins don’t suddenly become fatally flawed in the playoffs.
Except that yeah, the Lightning sure seem flawed. A month ago I wrote about pretty much this exact scenario, where the Lightning suffer through a shocking exit and we all race to slap an explanation on it.