from John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times,

For three years, the Lightning have crushed the hopes of Eastern Conference teams in the playoffs with the most dominant run of postseason victories since the New York Islanders four decades ago.

And, making matters more infuriating, the Lightning have looked beatable in each one of those regular seasons.

Tampa Bay won only seven of 21 games against the Bruins, Hurricanes, Panthers, Rangers, Penguins and Maple Leafs last year in the regular season. If you want to stretch it over three years, the Lightning are 26-30 against those six rivals from October to April.

And yet Tampa Bay is 24-9 against them in the playoffs.

That’s remarkable. And, depending on your point of view, a little comical.

But is it sustainable?

The Lightning have been weakened by salary-cap restrictions while the rest of the Eastern Conference has gradually been getting stronger. So have we reached critical mass in 2022-23? Has the time come for another franchise to represent the Eastern Conference in the Cup final?

The oddsmakers in Las Vegas seem to think so.

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