TAMPA, Fla. — The well-rested Lightning returned to the ice Monday following a five-day break, but fully knowing they have no time to waste in preparing for Wednesday’s game against Edmonton at Amalie Arena.
After spending most of his career in Southern California, the home of Disneyland, right wing Corey Perry used the time off to take his family to Disney World. Left wing Pat Maroon went home to St. Louis so his extended family could see his daughter Goldie, who was born in late October.
“The rest of the time, it was just relaxing and recharging the body and getting ready for this stretch run,” Perry said. “I think someone said it’s 31 games in 60 days (to end the regular season), so it’s going to be a sprint.”
This was the second lengthy break this month for Tampa Bay. The Lightning had six days off thanks to the All-Star Game before playing three makeup games in a six days. Coming off that first break, they had one of their most sluggish starts of the season at Colorado.
They fell behind by two goals within the first seven minutes and were outshot 24-10 in the opening period, eventually losing 3-2 in a matchup between Stanley Cup contenders.
“Our last break, coming out of it playing Colorado, it didn’t start off the way we wanted it to,” Perry said. “Hopefully, we can learn from that experience.”
The Lightning also started slowly in their most recent game last Tuesday in New Jersey. They were outskated by a young Devils team early, falling behind 3-1 in the second period before scoring five straight goals to win 6-3.
The Oilers, meanwhile, have been playing throughout the February break — eight games compared to the Lightning’s three — and won five of their last six since the team fired head coach Dave Tippett and promoted Jay Woodcroft from AHL Bakersfield.
“That team’s been playing a lot of hockey when we’ve been sitting around,” said Maroon, who spent parts of three seasons with Edmonton. “We’ve just got to be prepared and be ready.”
“They’re a desperate hockey team, a new coach” Maroon added. “They’re playing with a lot of energy, so we know they’re going to be coming hard and (we’ve) just got to match that intensity right off the bat. So we’ve just got to come out with a lot of fire, moving our feet, playing a little faster and get off quick.”
The Lightning had a fast-paced practice Monday, but coach Jon Cooper said a lot of players were “leaning on their sticks near the end of it.”
“I don’t care what you do, though,” Cooper said. “When you’re off the ice — and more power to the guys, they should be off the ice — but it’s tough. So (Monday), there wasn’t a ton to it, but they had to get their legs. So just get this one out of the way, we did what we had to do. (Tuesday) will be a good work day.”
The Oilers struggled through a stretch in which they lost 13 of 15 games, before rebounding to win 10 of their last 14 heading into Wednesday night (though they are coming off a lopsided 7-3 home loss to Minnesota on Sunday). Still, they have the most dangerous scoring duo in the league with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who were first and tied for second in points with 71 and 70, respectively, going into Monday’s slate of games.
“We can’t overlook a team that until (Sunday) night ripped off five in a row and has some of the best players in the league,” Cooper said. “So we won’t be overlooking this team.”
