Lightning Strike Again as Streak Continues to Grow

The Tampa Bay Lightning cannot be stopped.

Many have tried over the past several weeks, but all have failed — miserably. And if things continue on the current trajectory, nobody quite knows for sure when somebody finally will put an end to the craziness that is the Lightning at the moment.

After a 2-1 shootout win over the Pittsburgh Penguins — the Lightning’s 11th victory in a row — Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper thought back to a time when his team could barely scratch out a victory in the early goings of the season. Now, with a winning streak that’s the longest in the NHL this season, all that losing seems a distant memory.

“It’s a long way from winning one in our first seven to start the year, I’ll tell you that,” Cooper said. “Just tons of buy-in. Great group. Leaders, phenomenal. Check a lot of boxes of things you want in a team. Guys are being rewarded. It’s a lot of fun.”

Fun, indeed.

A Consistent Masterclass

Jan 13, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) makes a save in overtime against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Night in and night out, the Lightning are just better. There’s no easier way to describe the winning streak than on those terms. For whatever reason, Tampa Bay just finds a way. It doesn’t matter where, or which team it’s against — winning is the only option, and a win is what the Lightning are going to get.

Over the 11-game winning streak, Tampa Bay has scored 53 goals while only letting up 26. That is, of course, intuitive given that it’s difficult to reel off a winning streak like this one without an absurd goal differential. Still, it’s an impressive statistic, and one that should be recognized when analyzing why this is all happening in the first place.

What’s even more astounding is that the majority of that scoring is coming when both teams have five players on the ice. Of the 53 goals, only 10 have been on the power play. And that’s not to say that the Lightning haven’t fared well with the man advantage — they’re scoring at a 28% clip on it over the past 11 games — but it just illustrates how well the team is operating right now.

In other words, they're consistently putting up a masterclass every single night. If there's anything that's become commonplace during Cooper's illustrious tenure with the team, it's just that.

The Best Team in the East

With the winning streak, the Lightning have — as is usual over the Jon Cooper era — emerged as the best team in the Eastern Conference. With a deep roster that has excellent goaltending, scoring and defense, it’s going to be difficult to stop the Lightning moving forward, meaning that this streak could very well continue should things break the correct way.

So, will the Lightning strike again? If Cooper has anything to say about it, then it’ll strike once more when the team faces the St. Louis Blues on Jan. 16. From there, who knows? All that’s certain is that the Lightning are the team to beat out East, something that’s become all too familiar over the past 10 years.

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