Bolts can’t find the net in defeat

by Gary Shelton on November 29, 2023

in general

Point scored his 12th goal./TIM WIRT

Wednesday, 4 a.m.

A team that seems lost has no business in the desert.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, still looking to find its way in the NHL, fell again Tuesday night, losing 3-1 to an ordinary (at best) Arizona Coyote team. The Bolts have now lost three of their last four games.

Goaltender Jonas Johansson, making his first start since the return of regular Andrei Vasilevskiy, let in three goals on just 25 shots. He fell to 8-5-5.





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"Five-on-five scoring has been tough as of late," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "It gets masked some because the player play has been so good this year. But if you're not getting power plays in a game, it's not going to do it for you. You have to score five-on-five.

"When you're getting one a night it's tough to win games."

Michael Carcone scored twice for Arizona. The Coyotes are now above .500 for the first time in three seasons.

The Bolts had 32 shots, but scored just once when Brayden Point took a pass from Nikita Kucherov in the second period. It was Point’s 12th goal of the year.

Despite several other good looks, they couldn’t get the puck past Arizona’s Connor Ingram, who shut them out a year ago.

Tampa Bay went 1-2 on its road trip. The Bolts return home for a Thursday night against Pittsburgh at Amalie Arena. 

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