The Lightning Will Be Fine Without Steven Stamkos

Again, Steven Stamkos is lost for the season, and again, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be just fine.

They proved once more Thursday night in a 4-1 win over Buffalo that one of the best teams in the NHL—Down Goes Brown predicted Tampa to win the Stanley Cup in a VICE Sports season preview—is made up of much more than just one player.

In a repeat of history all too common for Stamkos and the Lightning, the 26-year-old is reportedly expected to miss at least four months after suffering a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee in a win over Detroit on Tuesday.

Steven Stamkos grabs his right knee after an awkward play along the boards. Down the tunnel. — Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar)November 16, 2016

It's a bummer for NHL fans and a hit to the Lightning, to be sure, but this doesn't exactly spell doom and gloom for the Atlantic Division's second-best team.

There is no doubt the loss of the the six-time all-star—who has 17 points in 20 games, and was sitting just one point behind Mark Scheifele and teammate Nikita Kucherov for the NHL lead in points when he went down—would hurt any club, but thanks to the leadership and impeccable drafting, trading, development and cap management by general manager Steve Yzerman, the Lighting are in a position to not only succeed, but to win without their superstar suiting up. Just as they did last season, when they came within one win shy of the Stanley Cup Final without Stamkos playing a single postseason contest.

It starts, as always, on the back end with goaltender Ben Bishop, whom Yzerman robbed from Ottawa in a one-sided deal for Cory Conacher in 2013. Bishop has yet to play under than 60 games in each of the past three seasons, and posted a save percentage north of .915 in every campaign since being acquired. And while his numbers are down from the stellar campaign he enjoyed last season (2.06 goals-against average, .926 save percentage), 22-year-old backup Andrei Vasilevskiy has been brilliant. He's sporting a 1.66 GAA and .945 SV% over an admittedly small six-game sample.

If the Lightning continue to get good goaltending out of Vasilevskiy, and Bishop's play improves, it makes Tampa's job of stomaching life without Stamkos that much easier.

Defencemen Victor Hedman and Nikita Nesterov have held the fort down in front of the Lightning goaltenders in contrasting yet equally productive ways. Hedman, whom the Lightning drafted second overall in 2009, has been nothing short of a stud while developing into one of the league's best two-way d-men. The 6'7" 25-year-old has three goals and 10 points so far this season, and put up a career-high 55 points in 2013-14, the first season that Stamkos missed extended time due to injury.

Nesterov, whom Yzerman stole in the fifth round of the 2011 draft, leads all Lightning players and sits tenth in the NHL with a 54.5 even strength Corsi, ranking ahead of analytic darlings P.K Subban, Alex Pietrangelo and Kris Letang, among others.

Up front, Yzerman has assembled a core of forwards that can play multiple roles in multiple situations, affording Tampa Bay the ability to coat over the loss of a once 60-goal scorer. Key Yzerman acquisitions include Ryan Callahan, Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat, and of course, Jonathan Drouin, who has been nothing short of stellar since rescinding his trade demand and rejoining the team just before the playoffs last season, where he posted 14 points in 17 games.

Tampa has gone 35-26-5 in the 66 games in which Stamkos has missed due to injury since November 2013, according to Sportsnet. Two notable mid-season injuries to their best player in the past three years, and both times the team did just fine.

On April 2, 2016, Stamkos was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome and underwent surgery two days later to address a blot clot. The Lightning went 11-6 in the playoffs without him, and took the Cup-winning Penguins to Game 7 of the Easter Conference finals.

A few years prior, on Nov. 11, 2013, Stamkos slid into the post on a back check against the Bruins, breaking his tibia. He ended up missing 46 games, plus the Sochi Olympics. He returned on March. 6, but admitted he was not even close to a 100 percent for the team's stretch run, but the Lightning survived, going 22-19-5 and finishing second in the Atlantic.

As scary as Stamkos' injury history may be, the way the Lightning have found a way to succeed in his absence is anything but frightening. If they can stay afloat and keep a playoff spot (which seems likely), the Lightning will once again be poised for a deep postseason run, especially if their captain can make a late-season return.