For the past two seasons, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been among the cream of the Eastern Conference crop.
The club has three straight second-place division finishes under its belt in as many years, and - more impressively - has earned a conference final trip and a Stanley Cup final appearance in the past two campaigns.
But this time around, the Lightning are far from continuing that impressive postseason streak. As it currently stands, the former Cup finalists are in need of a strong finish to even earn a shot at the playoffs.
Through 63 games, the Lightning rank sixth in the Atlantic Division and five points out of a wild-card spot with some decent teams standing between them and a postseason berth.
A 5-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night didn't help, and head coach Jon Cooper said performances like those simply continue to turn up the heat for the struggling club.
"We weren't going to go 20-0, but it makes (Saturday's) game pivotal," Cooper said after the loss, according to Fox Sports Florida. "We have no margin for error. We need these points."
The Lightning will square off against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. Though the two teams seemed to be in completely different situations coming into 2016-17, they now find themselves level.
"Buffalo's in the same position we are," Cooper said. "We're all scratching and clawing to get into this, so we just need to scratch a little harder."
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The Sabres sit just one point below Tampa Bay, having played one more game. A win on Saturday would move them past the Lightning, tying them with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Tampa Bay also has to deal with the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs, both of whom sit between the Lightning and a wild-card spot.
It seems general manager Steve Yzerman was wise to hang on to franchise centerman Steven Stamkos last summer, as his club is now seeing the effects of the captain's absence.
While Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov have taken a step forward this season, and Jonathan Drouin has finally begun to show his true potential, the loss of Stamkos to injury in November has been a thorn in the Lightning's side.
The club has just 19 wins in the 46 games that have followed Stamkos' exit, the fifth-least in the league over that span. While the captain is reportedly skating again, it's unclear how close he is to a return. Which means it isn't going to get any easier for the Lightning.
Even with a miraculous late-season run pushing them back into the playoff picture, it seems the Lightning are destined for the second of the two wild-card spots at best (the New York Rangers hold the first one, and already have 18 points on Tampa).
That would give them a date with the Washington Capitals in the first round, hungry Alex Ovechkin and recruited Kevin Shattenkirk in tow.
Safe to say the Lightning's chances of three straight conference finals appearances are in serious jeopardy.
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