The last time the Tampa Bay Lightning left Rogers Place, they left with the Stanley Cup in tow after defeating the Dallas Stars in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final.
The plane ride out of Edmonton won’t be as cheerful following Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Oilers, the Lightning’s third consecutive loss in regulation.
The last such skid for Tampa Bay (37-15-6) came at the end of last season (May 7-10) with a loss against Dallas and back-to-back defeats at Florida.
The Lightning found ways to kill any kind of momentum against the Oilers. Tampa Bay logged a season-high seven penalties and allowed a season-high 48 shots on goal (16 of which came when the Oilers had the man-advantage) with backup goaltender Brian Elliott starting for the first time since March 4′s win over Detroit.
“We were definitely making it hard on ourselves by taking a lot of penalties tonight,” defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “You give their top-end guys a lot of puck touches and a lot of time and space, they’re going to gradually get more confidence as the game gets on. It’s on us to be a little better disciplined there and that’ll definitely help our chances as we keep moving forward here.”
The penalties ruined the flow of the game for Tampa Bay, which trailed by one midway through the first period after Connor McDavid scored his first of two goals.
With less than six minutes remaining in the first period, the Lightning took three straight penalties and gave Edmonton a 30-second five-on-three advantage.
It helped set the tone for the rest of the evening as Tampa Bay logged another four penalties before the night’s end. The timing of the penalties worsened the team’s chances as Jan Rutta took a late second-period penalty and McDonagh, who plays on the team’s top penalty kill unit, was whistled for hooking early on in the third.
Tampa Bay had a chance to tie in the third after Zach Bogosian scored and a scrum at Edmonton’s bench led to a Lightning power play, but the team couldn’t find the right looks against Oilers goaltender Mikko Koskinen (31 saves). Instead, Edmonton added another two goals.
Playing in a heavy defensive mode for most of the game limited the team’s chances to capitalize on any offense. The Lightning finished the night playing shorthanded for 13 minutes.
“I thought our PK did an admirable job out there,” coach Jon Cooper said. “They were outstanding.”
The Lightning’s six-game road trip, their longest of the season, will wrap up Wednesday in Seattle. The team is 1-3 through two-thirds of the trip and faces Vancouver today with Andrei Vasilevskiy projected to start in goal. The Lightning are 1-7-0 in the first half of back-to-backs this season.
“When things aren’t going well for you, you invent ways to shoot yourself in the foot,” Cooper said. “So whether it’s been turnovers, taking too many penalties, we’re finding ways on this road trip to make it hard on ourselves. You’re going to take that many penalties, put some of the best players in the world on the ice all night, it’s gonna be tough for you.”
Despite the losses, the team is second in the Atlantic with 80 points, behind Florida (85) and ahead of Toronto (79).
“I don’t think anyone is too worried about it,” Elliott said. “We’ve got to get back to playing our type of hockey. And I think it’s not that far off.”
Added McDonagh: “We haven’t had too many stretches like this and we’re going to dig ourselves out of it for sure. And it might not happen right away in the first period tomorrow, but we could set the tone by playing hard and executing a little bit better.”
