Lightning's 2017 hot start finally fulfilling 2016's expectations

It was just barely over a year ago that the Tampa Bay Lightning were projected to take the 2016-17 season by storm. Sure, making Cup predictions in October is usually bogus anyways. But nevertheless, the Bolts seemed primed to own the Eastern Conference last season – until it was very clear that none of that was going to happen.

Now hop forward one year, past a disappointing campaign and a long offseason brought on by a missed chance at the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tampa Bay is off to a hot start, at the top of their game with a staggering hold on the Atlantic Division, and basically the entire conference. (Heck, they've already bested the Penguins twice.) And they don't appear to be slowing down.

Sports always gives you another chance. It's as if the Bolts are getting the season they couldn't deliver on last time around.

For starters, the Bolts had some holes in their defense last season, and the absence of sniper Steven Stamkos up front made it difficult for Tampa Bay to notch more goals than they were giving up. This was most evident in late October of the 2016-17 campaign, during a stretch when the Lightning were only scoring one goal a game. But the additions to the blue line are finally starting to gel, as the d-corpse has buckled down and allowed fewer chances to be Andrei Vasilevskiy. (The netminder himself is only letting a goal or two scoot by him these days. A far cry from Ben Bishop giving up three or four goals most nights last October.)

Of course, when looking at the vast improvement, the first thing people will point to is the offense – most notably Nikita Kucherov's hot streak. The skilled forward has always been a fierce competitor, but he has been lighting the lamp in this early season more than anyone else in the league. (No really, he leads the league with 11 goals in 10 games.) He is without a doubt the most lethal winger on the ice right now, on a top offensive line that clearly can't be shut down.

To compliment Kucherov's efforts is captain Stamkos, whose return to dominance has been a bit of a surprise. Not because there was doubt he could return from last season's knee injury. But because of how his game has changed. In addition to finding the back of the net, he notched 15 assists in his first nine games. All the apples have helped put him atop the league in points.

Add a league-leading power play to the mix, and you have a team that has done a full 180 from the disappointment they endured last season.

The next step is, of course, to look to the future. The Bolts have kicked off the season with a slew of home tilts, and matchups with familiar Eastern Conference rivals. Can Kucherov and company stay hot when they make the West Coast swing, where they only took 12 of 28 games and had near non-existent special teams?

If this Bolts team has taught us anything already, it's that they aren't going to be taken advantage of like they were last year.