Tampa Bay is just outside a playoff berth at the half-way mark on the season.
41 games are done for the Lightning this season, 41 remain on the books to be competed in, and the overall weight to games is on display with last night's victory in Edmonton. Not the in-game drama of come-from-behind victory but the parity that's playing out in the NHL standings this season, where everyone seems thisclose to contention status with very few exceptions.
After last night, the Lightning is a single point out of a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference, trailing the New Jersey Devils who've a game in-hand and who have dropped three straight.