If we wind the clock back one year, the Tampa Bay Lightning were sitting comfortably in a playoff spot with 90 points and a seven-point lead over the nearest wild card contender, the New York Islanders. While they hadn’t clinched a spot, they had all but wrapped one up. Not only that, they already knew that their opponent was going to be the Toronto Maple Leafs, who were in the second spot and had no chance of catching the first-place Bruins. They had actually known that for quite a while, it was just a matter of which team would end up with home-ice advantage.
Lightning Round: Uncertainties lie ahead if the Lightning make the playoffs
