Sunday, 4 a.m.
So far, the electricity has been grounded. So far, there is no voltage to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Bolts' season-opening slump continued Saturday night in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
Though five games, the Bolts have five points. However, they have yet to hold a lead in regulation, have yet to win at home and have yet to score a first-period goal. The Bolts' are 2-3 with both wins coming in overtime.
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“It’s not going to last forever," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "There are games you don’t get the lead in; it just happens that it’s the first five (games) of the year. Give the guys credit. They’ve picked up five points in those games. That’s probably a good sign."
The Bolts trailed three times in regulation and came back to tie each time, the last one coming on a shot by Brayden Point with 2:35 left. Steven Stamkos also scored, passing Vinny Lecavalier on the all-time points list (he trails only Martin St. Louis).
"The good part is that we have five points," Stamkos said. "The bad part is we’re a pretty good team when we have the lead. We’ve got to find a way to get it. We have to have better starts. Penalties killed us."
Cooper agreed.
“I liked a lot of things I saw tonight," Cooper said. "We took way too many penalties. That’s unacceptable. We can control that. Did i agree with all the calls? No, especially the last one (a tripping call on goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy)."
In the shootout, the Bolts had the lead twice but Colorado tied he game and won on a shot by Cale Makar.
Tampa Bay visits Buffalo for a game on Monday night. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7 p.m.