Lightning holds off Bruins for shootout win

by Gary Shelton on October 18, 2019 · 0 comments

in general

Vasilevskiy stopped all four shootout attempts./CHUCK MULLER

Friday, 4 a.m.

Hey, Lightning. Your expectations are showing.

That's how it is with the Tampa Bay Lighting. Every game, every decision is seen as part of the whole. Every success is measured by how much better it could have been, and every failure is treated like a Greek tragedy.

For instamce. after a high-leverage 4-3 shootout win over Boston Thursday night, coach Jon Cooper didn't talk about Steven Stamkos' winning goal. He talked about how the team surrendered a 3-2 lead in the third period.

Content beyond this point is for members only.

Already a member? To view the rest of this column, sign in using the handy "Sign In" button located in the upper right corner of the GarySheltonSports.com blog (it's at the far right of the navigation bar under Gary's photo)!

Not a member? It's easy to subscribe so you can view the rest of this column and all other premium content on GarySheltonSports.com.

He didn't talk about how goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, sharp all night, stopped all four shootout attempts by the Bruins. He talked about how the Bolts survived going up three power-play goals.

Still, the Bolts won to finish off a long road trip, beating a very good Bruins team.

"It’s a statement to the team that they can lose the special teams 3-0 and still win the game," Cooper said. "But it never should have gotten to that. you give them one, maybe two (power play goals). You. can’t give hem three."

The Lightning trailed 1-0 and 2-1, but finally took a 3-2 lead on Kevin Shattenkirk's fourth goal of the season. That lead lasted only 102 seconds, however, before David Pasternak scored his second goal of the season.

"We get a 3-2 lead, and the game's got to be over," Cooper said. "It wasn’t just the penalty kill giving up three. We had power play chances and we did nothing with them. It’s an area where we definitely have to  improve if we want to move forward."

Vasilevskiy stopped 34-of-37 shots and denied all four Boston shootout shots to earn his fourth win and improve to 4-1-0 on the season.

Despite his dissatisfaction, Cooper says his team is improving..

"I think we’ve been getting better as we’ve gone," Cooper said. "They’ve been working hard in practice. and we're slowly starting to see this pay off. We have to keep this going. (Seven) of the 12 points isn a six-game road trip. We’ll take that. It’s making-the-playoffs hockey. We can’t rest when we get home. It’ll be great to get back in front of our fans, but we have to continue to improve each game."

The Bolts are home Saturday night against Colorad. The puck drops at 7 p.m..

.

{ 0 comments… read it below or Subscriptions }

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: