Next 5 weeks will define Tampa Bay's season
The Tampa Bay Lightning's New Year's resolution should be something along the lines of: Keep our head above water.
The club was dealt another significant blow Wednesday with the announcement that goaltender Ben Bishop will be sidelined for roughly the next month with a lower-body injury.
It marks the latest blight the hockey gods have cast upon the team, as captain Steven Stamkos, Ondrej Palat, top scorer Nikita Kucherov, and former Vezina Trophy nominee Bishop are all sidelined by injuries.
The good news is that it appears Palat and Kucherov shouldn't be out for too much longer. Nevertheless, the firepower the Lightning are missing is significant, and the injuries are coming at a bad time.
Tampa Bay finds itself outside the playoff picture, sitting a win back of the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division and six points back of the final wild-card spot in the East.
To add to the Lightning's misery, their schedule doesn't do them any favors. The team has five games remaining in 2016 including a back-to-back with the St. Louis Blues and Washington Capitals, plus a meeting with the Montreal Canadiens.
Then the calendar turns to 2017, and January will see the club play 13 games - 10 against teams that sit above them in the standings. They play four of the NHL's hottest teams in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Columbus, and Chicago. They'll make the dreaded California road trip and play all three teams, finishing with what could be a crucial tilt with the Bruins.
Of course things haven't gone their way of late. The Lightning find themselves in this rather tight spot thanks to a 3-4-2 December record.
One bright spot in that tough stretch appears to be Jonathan Drouin, who seems to be heating up with 10 points in his last eight games, including a goal and an assist Tuesday.
Related: Lightning's Drouin: My confidence is nearing playoff level
The team will need others to follow suit, such as Tyler Johnson, who's underwhelmed with 19 points in 33 games and just four in his last eight contests.
The Lightning were among the favorites to capture the 2016-17 Stanley Cup after their second straight trip to the Conference Finals last year, but those early predictions could soon fall to the wayside.
The team isn't out of it yet, and a long playoff run wouldn't be out of the question, but first the Lightning must make the postseason, and that will rest largely on how the the next five weeks go.