While the bulk of contenders duke it out to secure playoff spots, the Tampa Bay Lightning sit comfortably atop the NHL with nothing left to play for. The Lightning clinched the Presidents’ Trophy and home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs with nine games left in the regular season. “It helps with the teams that we have left on the schedule,” forward Adam Erne said. We want to prepare ourselves for the first round.”Tampa Bay is already 2-1-0 since clinching, faces Boston on Monday and in the season finale and has games left against Washington, Montreal and Toronto. Countryman Andrei Vasilevskiy leads the league in victories by a goaltender and is also making a case to win the first Vezina Trophy of his career.

Source: National Post March 24, 2019 17:15 UTC