Lightning Round: Steven Stamkos is undeniably the greatest Bolt of all time

Last night in a redemptive blowout victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, Steven Stamkos scored his 34th goal of the season to give him 954 career points, passing Martin St. Louis for the most in Tampa Bay Lightning history. He added two more assists to hit 90 points on the season extend his lead to 956 in 917 career games, all with the Lightning.

As of right now, Stamkos currently holds the following franchise records:

• Goals
• Points
• Even strength goals
• Power play goals
• Game winning goals
• Hat tricks

He is second in games played, which he’s on pace to beat Vinny Lecavalier for in the last year of his contract two seasons after this one.

He is third in assists, needing 105 to catch and pass MSL for the record. Again, that stat is two years away if Stamkos stays on this season’s pace for the rest of his contract.

He is also approximately 350 shots away from beating Vinny for the all-time lead in that category, and wouldn’t it feel wrong if he didn’t get that one, too? Stamkos has 219 shots this year, so two seasons and he’ll get there as well.

Put all of that together with two Rocket Richards and captaining two back-to-back Stanley Cups, and it’s impossible to think of a better Bolt. I hope he never leaves, like he didn’t in 2017.

Lightning Links

Matt’s recap of the game is here. I fell asleep before the officials could count all the goals. There were just so many!

Tampa Bay wasn’t perfect this evening; there were still awkward decisions sprinkled throughout the game (when it was still competitive), too many odd-man rushes against, and far too much emphasis on passing out of shooting positions. However, they took a much-needed step in the right direction with tonight’s performance, highlighted by franchise milestones set by Stamkos and Kucherov.

It wasn’t all sunshine and Skittles last night as the Lightning managed the offensive explosion without one of their top forwards. Brayden Point missed the game and is officially day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

The Florida Panthers clinched the Atlantic Division after they and Tampa won last night. The fights now are for second, third, and fourth. Boston is slowly getting out of reach from Tampa Bay, with the Leafs now a lot closer than a couple days ago. Second place and home ice in the first round is a bit of a long shot, but not out of the question.

Please, stop embarrassing us, Arizona.