By Shane Petagna
TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Lightning have made the playoffs for the last six seasons, including three Stanley Cup appearances and two titles. But following Thursday’s 4-2 loss at home to the Pittsburgh Penguins that featured a goalie goal from Tristan Jarry to cap off the game, the Lightning may have hit their lowest point in a long time after their third straight loss.
“That point has hit us now where we have to treat every game like a playoff game, or we won’t be there,” said coach Jon Cooper.
The Lightning started the game strong, taking a 2-0 lead after the first period in which they completely outplayed Pittsburgh and outshot the Penguins 17-5. And just as it has all season, Tampa Bay relied on offense created by the NHL leader in points, Nikita Kucherov.
Kucherov would record two assists in the first period, bringing his season total to 39. His first of the night came on a Steven Stamkos second-chance opportunity just under nine minutes into the contest.
After having a shot just outside the crease saved by Jarry, Stamkos and the rest of the Lightning players on the ice stayed with the play as they peppered shots at the Penguins goaltender. Tampa Bay eventually got the puck in the back of the net with Stamkos tipping a Victor Hedman one-timer over Jarry’s blocker with 10:54 left to play in the first period.
A minute and a half later, Pittsburgh’s Noel Acciari became the first player to enter the penalty box on a tripping call, where the Lightning’s second-best power play percentage in the NHL would come into play.
Left winger Tanner Jeannot tipped in a rebound off a Stamkos wrister and was assisted by Mikhail Sergachev and Kucherov, granting Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead that the team took into the first intermission.
However, Pittsburgh outplayed Tampa Bay for the last 15 minutes of the second period, getting even in shots on goal and on the scoreboard.
The first Penguins goal came off a turnover on an errant pass by Kucherov at the Pittsburgh blue line, creating a breakaway chance for their captain Sidney Crosby. The Pittsburgh center buried the shot over Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy’s right shoulder with 11:07 remaining in the period to add to his league-leading 11 goals on the road this season.
Pittsburgh flipped the script on Tampa Bay in the second period, outshooting the Lightning 19-7. The last shot from the Penguins tied the score with under a minute to play. Another Bolts turnover involving Kucherov gave Pittsburgh a two-on-one rush, putting the puck in the hands of Evgeni Malkin. He placed a crafty pass through the legs of the lone Lightning defender Hedman to Drew O’Connor waiting by the left post to tie the game 2-2.
The Lightning failed to swing the momentum back in their favor to begin the third period. Just over two minutes into the action, the Penguins found themselves on the right side of an odd-man rush with a three-on-two advantage. Jeff Carter controlled the puck into the Tampa Bay zone and quickly gave it up to get it back for the go-ahead goal assisted by Matt Nieto and Marcus Pettersson.
Tampa Bay kept the pressure on throughout the third period and outshot Pittsburgh 17-5 in the frame, but just as the team had earlier in the week in losses to Colorado and Arizona, only found the back of the net once in five-on-five play.
“We need to just stay even keeled in here. We need to be accountable to each other and continue to work. It’s not a work ethic issue. It’s not a systems issue,” said Stamkos. “I think we’ve improved in those areas. It’s just certain times in games where we can make maybe a safer play.”
The loss marked the third separate losing streak of three games for the Lightning this season, who now sit alone in fifth place in the Atlantic Division with 25 points. Tampa Bay currently holds the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference by one point over a quarter of the way through the season.
“A lot of guys have been here a long time,” said Hedman. “You’re gonna go through ups and downs in the season, you know that.”
The Lightning will try to avoid their longest losing skid of the season on the road against the Dallas Stars on Saturday.