TAMPA – On Tuesday, after losing 4-0 to the Ottawa Senators at home, the Tampa Bay Lightning seemed as if the pressure of their past losses was becoming too much to handle, questioning their future in the playoffs.
Deciding to give the night off to Dwayne Roloson, the starting goalie, the team faced a lot of issues with keeping the puck out of their own net. Letting in the fist goal within the first 64 seconds of the game, things only went downhill from there. This goal by Eric Karlson broke the streak where the Lightning had scored first in three straight games. With 10 shots on goal, each one just missed every time, allowing the frustration to build up. The goalie, Mathieu Garon, was pulled after just four minutes of play for a sixth man, hoping that the extra offense would be able to tie things up. “We worked hard,” captain Vincent Lecavalier said, “we missed a lot of opportunities. They got one goal, but we definitely got a lot of chances to get back in the game, their goalie played pretty solid.” Unsuccessfully, Garon was put back in shortly after, and the period ended.
The second period began, and the Lightning was showing more stamina, but could not find an opening in the goal, despite their efforts. After Ottawa’s second goal, the team started to let their anger get the best of them, as two fights were broken up before the gloves hit the ice, and mistakes were made that allowed the opponents a penalty shot that was blocked. The fans started to become enthusiastic simply for the goalie deflecting shots and the players getting the puck away from their goal. It seemed that the pressure of the score was affecting their game a little too much.
Returning player Ryan Malone commented, “Obviously it’s my first game back, but guys were doing a lot of talking out there and trying to support each other, but we didn’t execute a lot of passes and our transition wasn’t very smooth. That obviously didn’t help.”
In the last period, Ottawa found the momentum to score their third goal, causing the Lightning to once again pull Garon. With an empty net, the senators weaved through the extra man and easily took their fourth and final goal, a hat trick for all-star Jason Spezza. Entering a disappointed locker room, coach Boucher kept his words to a minimum, speaking little and quietly. “We had more scoring opportunities today than we had in the last two games. It’s been a problem for us, scoring against them.” This leaves everyone wondering when things will change, and when the problem can be removed.
With a performance like that, what is to be expected for the future of the ‘Bolts making it to the playoffs?
“We believe in what we do. We need to keep our heads up and look forward,” commented captain Vinny Lecavalier. Moving forward was something everyone agreed on. “The mood has to be to keep fighting,” Ryan Malone told reporters. This was his returning game back in the lineup after missing eight previous games with an upper body injury. “We need more traffic, we’ve got to do a better job of getting pucks where [the goalie] can’t see them. We’ve got to battle harder.”