TAMPA — This is one of the games the Lightning wish they could return to.
After a three-day break for the Christmas holiday, Tampa Bay returned to its icy flats Wednesday night. The Lightning were held scoreless in the first two periods against the Panthers, but were unable to catch up after that, losing 3-2 at Amalie Arena.
The loss ended the Lightning’s season-best winning streak at three. The Lightning (17-14-5) are out of the playoff picture in a close-knit Eastern Conference standings. Florida, the defending Eastern Conference champion, has won its second straight game and moved into second place in the Atlantic Division.
Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky had a dominant performance, shutting out the Lightning in the first 40 minutes, 29 seconds, finishing with 27 saves. The Lightning entered the third period and took the lead on a rebound shot by Nikita Kucherov, then finally got going with a goal from Mikey Eisimont, but Panthers forward Sam Reinhart was hit short-handed between Tampa Bay’s points. He scored a goal and became the winner.
“It’s frustrating how the game played out,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “That’s frustrating. We can’t allow short goals. …That’s unacceptable for us.”
“I just had a little meltdown at the end and it made me pay for it.”
As the Lightning play back-to-back games this weekend, here are four takeaways from Wednesday night’s loss.
300-san
29 seconds into the third period, Kucherov flipped a rebound over Bobrovsky’s glove for his 300th career goal. The Lightning’s leading scorer and league points leader, he becomes the 244th player to reach 300 points in the NHL.
He reached 300 games in his 679th game, becoming the ninth active player to do so in fewer than 700 career games. Steven Stamkos accomplished that too, requiring 550 games. Kucherov, Stamkos, Vinny Lecavalier (773rd game) and Marty St. Louis (807th game) are the only players to score at least 300 goals in a Lightning uniform.
“A lot of things are impressive about him,” Cooper said of Kucherov. “He’s a student of the game. I don’t think anyone studies it more than him. He has the perfect work ethic to get better. We see that all the time. That’s why it happens on a daily basis.
“He’s clearly our MVP and I think he’s the MVP of the season so far if we’re going to go before Christmas, but he’s working his way into that.”
bring emotion
The Lightning could not match the intensity and desperation of the early Panthers. They showed even more of their strengths during their three-game winning streak.
“Being in the Christmas crowd and being a rival, I thought (the Panthers) got the early goal (4:16 into the game), but maybe it just let some air out of the tires. Reason. I don’t know,” Cooper said.
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“There was still a lot of game left in the game. But I’m not really sure we were fully physical in this game until we scored, but then we played with a little more spark in the third period and at the end I was able to play until I made a few mistakes.
“It’s a little disappointing coming off a home break and having an interstate rival beat us on our home ice. It’s disappointing.”
power outage
The Lightning went 0-for-3 on the power play, allowing a short goal by Reinhardt 3:11 into the third period. Tampa Bay entered the game as the NHL’s top home power play team and second overall.
The Lightning had four good shots on goal on the first power play, but Bobrovsky was outstanding during that stretch. He annoyed Lightning all night.
“He was great. He made some nice saves on chances for me as well as other players,” Lightning center Braden Point said. “Really good goalie, played well, played well (Wednesday), and yeah, he stopped some good goals there.”
I’ll go help you right away.
The Lightning’s offense begins when the defense moves the puck out of the zone. Top defenseman Mikhail Sergachev has missed his third consecutive game with a lower-body injury.
Cooper said the Lightning hope to play Saturday against the Rangers or Sunday against the Canadiens.
Sergachev was hit by a puck on the back of his left foot during a game against the Blues on December 19th.
Contact Kristie Ackert. kackert@tampabay.com.
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