Tampa Bay Lightning Clinch Playoff Spot, Tie Record

0:00It's April 4th. This is NHL News today, powered by AI, your team, your update. The Tampa Bay Lightning just punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the ninth straight season after the Detroit Red Wings lost 4-2. One to the New York Rangers. That clinch ties them with the Colorado Avalanche for the longest active streak in the NHL, with Toronto already out of contention. Their neck and neck with the Buffalo Sabres for first in the Atlantic Division, both sitting at 100 points, though Buffalo has one game left. To play, Tampa Bay and Buffalo both sealed their spots thanks to that Detroit defeat, and now the lightning head into their matchup against the Boston Bruins. This evening at 5 p.m. Eastern, fans are buzzing about this squad's firepower, led by Nikita Kutcherov, with 124 points, second only to Conor McDavid, Leaguewide. Jake Gwensel follows with 83 points, and Brandon Hagel has 73, while defenseman Darren Raddish is smashing career highs at 66 points.

1:01On the back end, Andre Baseleski tops the NHL with 36 wins, a 2.34 goals against average and a 0.912 save. Percentage, the team ranks second and goals per game at 3.60 and third and fewest, allowed a 2.77, fresh off and 11 game win. Striek earlier this season, Captain Victor Hedman has been sidelined by injury and personal matters, but with this momentum, Tampa Bay looks prime to extend the historic run, deep into spring.