It’s not easy to sit down and answer questions fifteen minutes after losing a Stanley Cup playoff game. Heck, it’s not easy doing it after a win. Luckily, Coach Jon Cooper has a quite a bit of experience of doing both. Following the Lightning’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens, here is what he had to say to the media:
When asked if had a problem with the penalties and the way the Lightning approached the game, he chuckled and replied,
“No, I had a problem with us. I mean, c’mon, we took four offensive zone penalties. Just look at them. That’s not over-aggression, that was stupidity in a lot of them. So that was on us.”
Then, after speaking to how disappointing it was to do that in the playoffs he ripped off some Steiner Math,
“Now, let’s be honest, we go three-for-six [on the penalty kill], whatever it was. So, if you’re going to kill penalties off at 50%, then you’re probably not going to last very long. But, if you’re killing penalties at 50% when you only give up two, so it’s one-for-two, you know, okay, maybe you can survive.”
The questioning then pivoted to Dominic James, his return, and his injury scare in the first period.
“He got the scare and he got through it and came back. Don’t want to say it was the best thing to happen to him, but probably was the best thing that could happen to him, because, as that game went on, he got better and better.”
He wrapped up talking about the importance of Game One’s and how he’s been involved in series where the Lightning have lost Game One and won the series, and won Game One but lost the series. His concern was more about the way they lost it, and yes, we got a Cooper Cliche!
“So that [losing Game One] isn’t as much a concern as how we lost it. So, if that’s going to be the way we keep going, then this series might not go as long as we thought. Now do I think we’ve got better in us? I do.“
He acknowledged that the task before them now is to win four out of the next six games, so it’s no by no means a do or die situation. That being said, he also conceded that, fifteen minutes after the loss, he was a bit “ticked off”.
Ryan McDonagh also talked to the media, and answered questions about the penalty kill.
Coach Cooper referred to the offensive zone penalties as stupidity, McDonagh called them “unacceptable”.
“The types of penalties that we took are pretty much unacceptable. I think, a handful of them in the offensive zone, 200 feet away from our net. If it’s a good penalty, that’s one thing, but I don’t think any of them tonight were good.”
He didn’t feel that the “chippiness” of the game was the cause of the penalties, especially considering that the bulk of them were irresponsible stick penalties. When asked about how they change their lack of recent home success, McDonagh was quite blunt,
“We come in with a little piss and vinegar. Obviously, they deserved to win here tonight. So, look in the mirror as a group and come back with a better effort overall.”
