By Since the NHL season resumed following a 25-day layoff for the Olympics, things have not been going well for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tampa was the hottest team in the league heading into the break and won its first game back against Toronto, earning its 20th win in its last 24 contests.
Since that matchup, the Lightning have gone 0-3.
It’s not that they have lost three games; it’s the manner in which they have lost.
The Lightning have been outscored 16-7 in their last three games, including a 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday Night. The 16 goals are the most goals the Lightning have given up in a three-game stretch this season.
The Lightning are now 3-14-2 all-time in Minnesota.
The defense has been putrid at best in the last three games, and it almost feels like the structure and systems the Lightning employed to win 20 out of 22 have gone out the window.
As the Lightning continue to lose games, the lead in the Atlantic Division is dwindling.
The lead is down to just two points ahead of Buffalo. Detroit is four points back, and Montreal is five points behind the Lightning.
The Lightning is also taking some untimely penalties. Scott Sabourin had a ten-minute misconduct in the first period. The Bolts also took a total of five penalties in the first 26 minutes of the game.
The Wild led the Lightning 1-0 after the first period.
Minnesota would make it 2-0 at 4:59 of the second period, before Nikita Kucherov scored goal number 32 on the season to cut the lead to 2-1, and give the Lightning a bit of a spark.
That feeling would be short-lived, however, as just over two minutes later, Yakov Trenin of the Wild would get one past Vasilevskiy to put the Wild 3-1.
Minnesota would add two more goals in the third period to make the final 5-1 and send the Bolts to their third consecutive loss.
Jon Cooper did not seem concerned after his team dropped their third straight game.
“We’ve got a great group of guys in there, so I’m not worried about them. Does it sting a bit that we’ve lost three in a row? Sure. Have we given up too many goals? Of course. But there’s a foundation there. Again, it’s 82 games. So, bottom line is we have to end this now. We can’t let this slide continue, and I’m confident they will.”
Bottom line is this team is out of sync right now, eerily similar to their 1-4-2 record to start the season.
Forward Oliver Bjorkstrand said the Lightning need to get back to their old habits to start winning some games again.
“It’s just getting back to our old habits, the ones that made us have success. Every time you get on the ice, you’ve got to be ready to play, and you can’t have these swings in your game. It’s all the way through the lineup, and we’ve just got to get back to the old habits.”
The road trip will continue Thursday Night in Western Canada as the Lightning will play the Winnipeg Jets for the final time this season.
The Lightning won the first game in Tampa against the Jets 4-1 and will look to get back on track against a disappointing Winnipeg team.
The Lightning have a 38-17-4 record on the season, with 23 games to play and a slim two-point lead on second-place Buffalo in the division.
This weekend, the trip will wrap up with two division games on the road against Toronto and Buffalo.
