Friday, 4 a.m.

For a long time, it looked as if the Lightning might never lose again.

Now, the question is if they will ever win.

Once again, the collapsible Tampa Bay Lightning took it on the chin Thursday night, losing their fourth straight game. This time it was a 5-2 decision against Chicago, as the Blackhawks scored five goals in less than 13 minutes of the third period.

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The Bolts took a 2-0 on Brayden Point's 23rd goal and Nikita Kucherov's 31st. But Chicago scored five goals on 10 shots to win going away.

In their last four games, all losses, the Lightning have given up 21 goals. They've given up 27 in their last six.

"Reset -- that’s what we have to do," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "Maybe after our long winning streak, we took a breath and were looking at playoffs or something down the road., although we're not close to clinching. There's a lot of runway left, Some details in our game are slipping."

Goaltender Curtis McElhinney shut out the Blackhawks for two periods, but Chicago tied the game at 2-2 with a pair of goals in 26 seconds. Dominik Kubalik scored a hat trick in the final period.

“When it’s not going well, you can look at a lot of things," Cooper said. "It’s going south as a group. You’re not looking and saying it’s goaltending or its special teams or the penalty kill or our 5-on-5 play. It’s kind of a collaboration of it all. As a group, you're going to go through some ups and downs. We've had more ups than downs.Now it’s not quite working for us. I look at where we sit. I like where we’re  at. We just have to straighten out some things in our game and I’m confident we’ll be able to do that.

"The snowball got pushed off the hill and kept rolling and we couldn’t stop it. The alarming amount of goals we’re giving up now is not a recipe for winning hockey games."

Cooper did like the first two periods of play by the Lighting, however.

"I thought we had pretty good control of that game and then pucks started going in the net," Cooper said.  "The first couple we had pucks on our stick. We don't get clears.  The third one is on a deflection, The fourth one is on a power play and it’s 4-2. It overshadows a lot of good things we did for most of that game. You look up and goes from 2-0 to 5-2 and you're wondering what happened."

The Bolts try to stop their slide Saturday afternoon at Amalie Arena in a game against Calgary. The puck is scheduled to drop at 4 p.m.

Thursday, 4 a.m.

For a year, he was a star.

For a year, he was the finest offensive threat that the Tampa Bay Rays had.

Now, the question for Austin Meadows is basic: Can he do it again?

A year ago, Meadows wasn't just good. He was splendid. He hit .291. He had 33 homers. He drove in 89 runs. He made the All-Star Team. He became part of the shining example of how to make a trade (or, in the case of the Pittsburgh Pirates, how not to).

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And now, it is time for a sequel.

The Rays are depending on it.

Oh, I know what you're thinking. A player doesn't have statistics like Meadows had over 530 at-bats and have it turn out to be a fluke. Still, one-year wonders do exist in the major league baseball. Remember Mark Fidrych? Remember Joe Charboneau? Remember Chris Coghlan?

If you want to make an argument for Meadows, go back to last June, his worst month of the season? In June, Meadows hit just .206 with no home runs and six RBI. He struck out 33 times.

Still, he rebounded, and finished with a .378 average in September as the Rays drove for the playoffs. His nine home runs were his best month of the season. That rebound in itself should suggest that Meadows won't wither and fade.

Still, how good can he be?

I saw seven projections on Meadows (Composite, Rotochamp, Steamer, Zips, ATC, The Bat and 2019) for the coming season. Not one of them had him with as high an average, as many homers or as many RBI. Still, all of them had him with at least 25 homers, at least a .269 average and at least 80 RBI. I suspect the Rays would take that line right now.

As for Meadows? Hey, he's 24. I'm sure he's thinking about another All-Star game, and inflated statistics all around.

After all, no one thinks about going backward.

Wednesday, 4 a.m.

The new guys were supposed to be the cavalry. They were supposed to push the Tampa Bay Lightning over the top.

So far, however, it has been a bad chemistry experiment. And the reinforcements -- Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow and Zach Bogosian -- haven't tasted victory since joining the Bolts.

Tampa Bay lost its third straight game Tuesday night, falling 4-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Lightning has given up 16 goals in the three losses -- all with Andrei Vasilevskiy in goal -- and 22 in its last five games.

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"We didn’t play poorly five on five," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "It was a total special teams game. When you play a hockey game and you lose  and all your players are plus and the other team's are minus, it is all special teams. Their odd man rushes were coming off our power play.  Their penalty kill out-chanced our power play and their power play scored (twice). That was the difference in the game."

The Bolts are four for their last 54 on their power play. They've given up five power play goals in the last three games.

"I think when you’re so good for so long, it opens eyes when you give up goals," Cooper said. "The reason we won so many games for so long was because our penalty kill was so good. It happens when you play 82. It’s not going to be a Picasso every night. "

Cooper admitted it would take the new guys a few games to fit in with the Lightning.

"It takes time so we can get our flow," Cooper said.

The Bolts have lost three straight for the first time all season. They get another chance Thursday night when they play against Chicago at Amalie Arena. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m.