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Lightning Round: Bolts return home with three wins on the road

Posted on by Igor Nikonov

The Tampa Bay Lightning dropped their second consecutive game last night, this time losing to the Calgary Flames 6-3 at the Saddledome. Just like against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday, the Bolts started the game slow, allowing the goal first and being outshoot 15-4 in the first period. For Andrei Vasilevskiy it was just the second time this season when he lost back-to-back games [Raw Charge]

Coach Jon Cooper wanted the Tampa Bay Lightning to return from their five-game road trip with more points than games played. Thanks to wins in the first three games that will happen. However, the execution of their game plan over the last two left him a little “frustrated”. The Bolts ended their road trip with a dispiriting 6-3 loss to the Calgary Flames on Saturday afternoon. They had closed the gap to 4-3 on a late third period goal by Anthony Cirelli before two empty-net goals sealed the win for the Flames.

Jon Cooper was a little bit disappointed with the performance of his team, saying that best players weren’t best players last night. Overall he was satisfied with getting more than .500 point percentage on the road, however two losses at the end of the road trip spoiled that feeling.

The Toronto Maple Leafs extended their lead on the Lightning to five points, although the Bolts still have two games in hand. The lead ahead of the chasing group of the Florida Panthers and the Buffalo Sabres remained pretty big, meaning that the Lightning and the Leafs are basically battling against each other for the home-ice advantage in the first round of playoffs at this stage of the regular season.

The Lightning have three more games before their bye-week, which starts next Sunday. Next week they’re hosting three teams, currently sitting in playoff spots, including the league-leading Boston Bruins on Thursday.

The Syracuse Crunch lost to the Utica Comets on Saturday night, but still managed to earn a point in an overtime loss.

The Orlando Solar Bears also lost their game to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits last night.

The Lightning’s radio voice Dave Mishkin ranking his favourite Steven Stamkos goals.

Joe Yerdon of the Bleacher Report thinks Ilya Mikheyev would be a great addition to the Lightning bottom-six at the upcoming trade deadline.

Isaac Howard, Tampa Bay’s first round pick from last year’s entry draft, scored his third goal of the season in NCAA last night. Overall this season seems like a step back for Howard, who has just eight points in 22 games. What’s going on with the highest-ranked Lightning prospect in a recent article from Duluth News Tribune.

“It’s been frustrating, but it’s just good for my development and learning,” Howard said. “You’re going to hit a cold patch in your in your career. I just have to be mentally strong throughout the season, show up every day and work hard. That’s what I’ve done.”

Hockey News

Here are the results from a very busy night in the NHL.

The Montreal Canadiens Cole Caufield will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.

Rick Tocchet is expected to be announced as the Vancouver Canucks head coach on Monday.

Adam Foote reportedly will join Sergei Gonchar as a member of Tocchet’s coaching staff.

The current head coach of the Canucks, Bruce Boudreau has already said goodbye to his team, despite not being fired officially yet.

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