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Poll: Tell us if Steven Stamkos will score 60 goals

Tampa Bay Lightning v Colorado Avalanche

DENVER, CO - DECEMBER 23: Steven Stamkos #91 of the Tampa Bay Lightning takes a shot against the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center on December 23, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Lightning 2-1 in overtime. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

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Steven Stamkos broke a Tampa Bay Lightning team record with his 53rd goal of the season last night, but he obviously isn’t satisfied with that. Thanks to a beauty of a wrist shot goal that caught Tim Thomas off guard, Stamkos already hit the 54 tally mark with some time left to do more damage tonight.

Update: Stamkos made the job much easier by scoring a second goal on Tuesday, making it 55 and thus needing five for 60. There are still a few minutes left, too, so this post will be updated if he gets a hat trick.

NBC Sports Network provided a great infographic of how his goals have broken down so far this season, which I’ll update with Stamkos’ second tally.

Total Goals: 55 (first in NHL)
Even strength: 43 (first in NHL)
Overtime: 4 (first in NHL)
GWG: 10 (tied for first)
Goals in third period: 17

Fun-killing stats nerds would argue that some of that is circumstantial - when you score 55, plenty are going to be during big moments - but the part that impresses me the most is the 43 even-strength tallies. That shows that he isn’t just milking easy power play opportunities.

Those numbers also make you wonder what he’d do with a better team around him (although the counterpoint might be that he wouldn’t feel the need to do as much, at least theoretically).

Stamkos’ schedule for 60

Anyway, enough about what he’s already done. Let’s look at what lies ahead for Stamkos in his quest for 60 goals - keep in mind he’ll need to score six more in six games plus tonight’s remaining time. For fun, I’ve included a) how many goals Stamkos has scored against a given opponent in 2011-12 and b) how many goals that team has allowed going into Tuesday’s games.

Thursday: at New Jersey (two goals in three games; 200 Goals Allowed)
Saturday: vs. Winnipeg (two goals in four games; 223 GA)
April 2: vs. Washington (three goals in five games; 214 GA)
April 4: at Montreal (two goals in three games; 211 GA)
April 5: at Toronto (one goal in three games; 239 GA)
April 7: at Winnipeg (two goals in four games; 223 GA)

As you can see, Stamkos has already scored at least once against the six remaining opponents. Four of the six final contests are against non-playoff teams, which could be good (if those teams are in low spirits) or bad (if those teams make stopping Stamkos their only real goal).

Asking for (almost) a goal-per-game is a tough task even for Stamkos - the NHL’s most prolific goal scorer during the last three seasons - but it’s not implausible looking at that reasonable schedule.

So with all that in mind, share your thoughts in the poll: can Stamkos reach 60 goals this season?

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