The Bolts have found, well, lightning in a bottle with the chemistry that Anthony Cirelli and Mathieu Joseph have. Their ability to break down the opponent’s defense with their relentless forecheck gives the Lightning a strong and reliable third line that can also create offense. The Lightning have the sort of depth the Oilers could have had (you know what I mean), which has helped them out in so many games this season. If the Steven Stamkos line falls silent, Brayden Point’s line can carry the offense. When Point’s line falters, Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov are usually wreaking havoc on other teams.

The Lightning have fared well enough in Victor Hedman’s absence, but it hasn’t been the smoothest adjustment. It was nice to see Slater Koekkoek get his first goal in nearly a calendar year, and he’s playing with the sort of confidence that we haven’t seen in a very long time (maybe ever, at least at the NHL level). Head coach Jon Cooper confirmed that Hedman wouldn’t return until later this week, which means the Bolts may need to draw up a new plan to stop McDavid. Weak team around him or not, he still has the ability to break down a team’s defense by himself. If Ottawa’s third goal on Sunday night was any indication (though that entire play was just a series of unfortunate events), the Lightning still have some ways to go to figure out how to stabilize their blueline in Hedman’s absence.