Where does the Lightning's regular season rank among the greats?

The Tampa Bay Lightning put together a historic 2018-19 regular season, but how does it stack up against campaigns from the all-time greats? We take a look at five other dominant seasons ranked by points percentage:

Montreal Canadiens,1976-77Bruce Bennett / Bruce Bennett / Getty

Rec.	Points	P%	G	GA	Dif.
60-8-12	132	.825	387	171	+216

Result: Won Stanley Cup
NHL Teams: 18
Salary Cap: No
Leading scorer: Guy Lafleur (136 points)

The Canadiens dynasty of the mid-late 1970s featured three of the five highest single-season point totals in NHL history. To avoid repetition, we've decided to highlight the 1976-77 Habs - the best of the bunch.

After losing just eight games in the regular season - and tying 12 - the '77 Habs steamrolled the competition in the playoffs as well. They went 12-2 in the postseason, including a four-game sweep of the Don Cherry-coached Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final.

These Canadiens, featuring nine Hall of Famers, cleaned up on awards night. Ken Dryden won the Vezina Trophy, Larry Robinson and his plus-120 rating took home the Norris Trophy, and Lafleur claimed the Hart Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Award, the Art Ross Trophy, and the Conn Smythe Trophy.

The '77 Habs weren't only the best NHL team ever, but perhaps one of the most cohesive units in the history of sports. Every player knew his role and executed it flawlessly. It's a testament to Scotty Bowman, the man behind the bench.

Detroit Red Wings, 1995-96Elsa / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Rec.	Points	P%	G	GA	Dif.
62-13-7	131	.799	325	181	+144

Result: Lost in conference finals
NHL Teams: 26
Salary Cap: No
Leading scorer: Sergei Fedorov (107 points)

The '96 Red Wings may not have won it all, but they followed a dominant 62-win regular season with an unforgettable playoff run. After dispatching a high-powered Winnipeg Jets team in six games, Detroit narrowly escaped a second-round upset at the hands of Wayne Gretzky and the St. Louis Blues, who pushed the Wings to seven games before Steve Yzerman delivered his famous double-overtime winner.

In the conference finals, Detroit faced an upstart Colorado Avalanche team led by Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Patrick Roy. Claude Lemieux's hit on Kris Draper, perhaps the most memorable moment of the series, sparked the birth of a heated rivalry. The Avs would get the last laugh, taking the series in six games before sweeping the Florida Panthers in the Cup final.

Despite the disappointing finish, Detroit won the Cup in '97 and '98 with largely the same roster from this '96 team.

These Red Wings featured the second edition of The Russian Five - Fedorov, Igor Larionov, Slava Kozlov, Slava Fetisov, and Vladimir Konstantinov. "The Wizards of Ov" took the league by storm in '96 after Scotty Bowman, Detroit's general manager and head coach (and the bench boss of those famous 76-77 Habs), acquired Larionov from the San Jose Sharks.

Along with Fedorov, Larionov, and Fetisov, the '96 Red Wings boasted four other Hall of Famers - Yzerman, Paul Coffey, Nicklas Lidstrom, and Dino Ciccarelli.

Tampa Bay Lightning, 2018-19Kevin Sousa / National Hockey League / Getty

Rec.	Points	P%	G	GA	Dif.
62-16-4	128	.780	319	221	+103

Result: TBD
NHL Teams: 31
Salary Cap: Yes
Leading Scorer: Nikita Kucherov (128 points)

This season's Lightning team put together the best campaign since the introduction of the salary cap. Though it's incredibly difficult to compare teams from different eras, the NHL has arguably never had as much parity as it does today, making these Bolts that much more impressive. It should be noted that Tampa Bay is one of two teams on this list with the advantage of shootout wins, in which it picked up an extra six points.

Nikita Kucherov led the way with 128 points, enjoying the NHL's most dominant season since Mario Lemieux's 161-point campaign in 1995-96. He also set a new benchmark for points in a season by a Russian player, surpassing Alexander Mogilny's 127 in 1992-93. Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, and Brayden Point all reached 40 goals or more, making these Bolts the first team since Lemieux's 1995-96 Pittsburgh Penguins to have three players hit the mark.

It's not possible to win 60-plus games in today's NHL without incredible depth. Last year's addition of Ryan McDonagh stabilized a defense corps anchored by Victor Hedman. Erik Cernak emerged to round out the blue line's right side. Anthony Cirelli led a relentless bottom-six forward group filled with speed, skill, and versatility. And Andrei Vasilevskiy put together a Vezina-caliber season for the cherry on top.

All that remains to be seen is whether these historic Bolts can win the ultimate prize.

Boston Bruins, 1970-71Bettmann / Bettmann / Getty

Rec.	Points	P%	G	GA	Dif.
57-14-7	121	.776	399	207	+192

Result: Lost in 1st round
NHL Teams: 14
Salary Cap: No
Leading scorer: Phil Esposito (152 points)

The 1970-71 season may have been Bobby Orr's best. He racked up a career-high 139 points - which still stands as the highest single-season mark by a blue-liner - and set the all-time plus/minus record with an astonishing plus-124 rating. He capped it off with his fourth of eight straight Norris Trophies.

A first-round upset at the hands of the Canadiens marked the first of four times during the '70s that Montreal squashed the Bruins' Stanley Cup aspirations. Two Stanley Cup victories for Boston sandwiched this historic '71 campaign and undoubtedly softened the blow of its disappointing finish, although three in a row would've qualified as a dynasty.

Though Orr and Phil Esposito stole most of the headlines, the campaigns by captain Johnny Bucyk (116 points) and Ken Hodge (105 points) can't be overlooked. The Bruins also enjoyed goaltending from Hall of Famer Gerry Cheevers between the pipes.

Detroit Red Wings, 2005-06Gregory Shamus / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Rec.	Points	P%	G	GA	Dif.
58-16-8	124	.756	301	206	+95

Result: Lost in 1st round
NHL Teams: 30
Salary Cap: Yes
Leading scorer: Pavel Datsyuk (87)

Aside from the Lightning, these Red Wings are the only team on this list that had to contend with a salary cap. And though they had the advantage of shootout wins, only four of their victories came in the skills competition.

A decade after its historic '96 campaign, Detroit put together another remarkable season, barely missing the 60-win milestone. But the Red Wings suffered a first-round upset in the playoffs, losing in six games to the eighth-seeded Edmonton Oilers, who went on a miracle run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Yzerman and Lidstrom were the only holdovers from the '96 team, but a new wave of talent led by Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg helped catapult the club back to greatness; the bulk of this roster would stick around for Detroit's 11th Stanley Cup in 2008.

Edmonton Oilers, 1983-84Focus On Sport / Focus on Sport / Getty

Rec.	Points	P%	G	GA	Dif.
57-18-5	119	.744	446	314	+132

Result: Won Stanley Cup
NHL Teams: 21
Salary Cap: No
Leading scorer: Wayne Gretzky (205 points)

The 1984 Stanley Cup Final marked the birth of one dynasty and the end of another. The Oilers won their first of five Stanley Cups over seven seasons, defeating a New York Islanders team seeking its fifth straight championship. The victory served as revenge for the Oilers, who the Isles swept in the Cup final the year prior.

The provincial rival Calgary Flames gave the Oilers a run for their money, pushing their high-scoring, second-round series to seven games. Otherwise, Edmonton didn't face much of a scare, going 15-4 in the postseason.

Statistically, the '84 Oilers are the best offensive team of all time. They averaged an astounding 5.58 goals per game - albeit in the highest-scoring era ever. Five players, all of whom are enshrined in the Hall of Fame, had at least 99 points: Gretzky, Coffey (126), Jari Kurri (113), Mark Messier (101), and Glenn Anderson (99). Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr guarded Edmonton's net.

What does this mean for the Lightning?Scott Audette / National Hockey League / Getty

If this list is any indication, a Stanley Cup is far from guaranteed for the Lightning. But if the Bolts fall short of the ultimate prize, history is on their side for the coming campaigns. Three teams on this list failed to win the Stanley Cup despite their dominant regular seasons: the '96 Red Wings and '71 Bruins, both of whom won it their very next season, and the '06 Red Wings, who won two years later.

The Washington Capitals are the most recent example of this trend. They won back-to-back Presidents' Trophies in 2016 and 2017 but were ousted in the second round each time. After finishing sixth in the league during the 2017-18 regular season, they went on to win the franchise's first Cup.

Regardless of how Tampa Bay's playoff run ends, we've already witnessed greatness this season.

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