Friday, 4 a.m.
Here, then, are the concerns about the Tampa Bay Lightning as they enter the playoffs:
— They are a mediocre team on the road. The Bolts fell to 17-19-3 with Thursday night’s 2-1 loss to Ottawa.
— They have a deep team of scorers, but there are nights when the offense disappears, such as it did against the Senators.
— The power play fades in and out. Although they have spent most of the season near the top of the league, they went 0-for-3 against Ottawa.
— And other teams play hard, too. Senators’ goalie Linus Ullmark, for instance, was special in stopping 31 of 32 shots in his team’s victory.
It all added up to a loss for the Bolts, who blew a chance to clinch the playoffs. Only Brandon Hagel could coax the puck into the net, and that was after the Bolts fell behind 2-0. Tampa Bay had scored 23 goals in winning its previous four games.
Still, the Lightning had its chances. It launched 32 shots, and both Hagel and Anthony Cirelli had short-handed breakaways.
“Did I think we played well enough to get points out of the decision?” Said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “There’s no question. We had our chances —breakaways, odd man rushes, unreal looks. In the end, the puck has had eyes for us the last few weeks and tonight it didn’t.”
The Bolts play at Buffalo on Saturday night at 7 p.m.