Tuesday, 4 a.m.
They can look quick. They can look fast. They can look elusive.
And, then, it all disappears.
They are the Tampa Bay Lightning, an on-again, off-again team that rarely loses three in a row and rarely wins three in a row.
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The Bolts were beaten, 4-1, by the Colorado Avalanche Monday night. They got off 41 shots, but only one of them got past Av goaltender Alexander Georgiev. Georgiv won his 13th game.
"We didn't have it tonight," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "That rarely happens. The harder they tried, the worse it got. It was just one of those nights for us."
The Bolts gave up one goal on an empty-netter, one on a power play and one when Victor Hedman fell.
The only goal that counted for the Bolts was by Anthony Cirelli. Mikey Eyssimont had a goal disallowed by an offsides call.
The Bolts had five penalty kills in the game, four of them successful.
Tampa Bay plays in Arizona tonight at 9 p.m.