Wednesday, 4 a.m.
A giveaway, they call it. For the Tampa Bay Lightning, it has never been more fitting.
The simplest of plays -- a pass from here to there -- eluded the Bolts in Tuesday night's 4-2 loss to Detroit. They could not manage the puck, and as a result, they could not manage the game.
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The Lightning had 11 giveaways in the first period -- they had 16 for the night against the Wings' one -- as they stumbled against a Detroit team it has handled fairly easily in recent seasons.
The Bolts woke up in the third period -- getting off 30 shots and scoring twice. But two empty-netters gave the Wings the victor.
"We were not ready to play," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "It was evident.
"It was really disappointing. I thought the boys were ready, but a lot of bad habits we’ve had as a team just came flooding out. It was tough to watch. You're not going to win games doing what we did."
The Bolts seemed lethargic compared to Detroit, which took a 2-0 lead early in the third period.
The Bolts got six-on-five goals from Steven Stamkos, his 495th, and Braydon Point. But the two empty netters kept the Bolts from getting closer. Detroit goaltender Ville Husso had 28 saves in the third period, 44 for the game.
"The urgency we showed in the third -- had we showed that for 60 minute maybe this outcome is a little different," Cooper said.
Said Point: "I’m not sure what was going on. I don’t want to say we were’t ready. Maybe we were trying to force it too much. We were not using our legs. A big part of our team is skating and I don’t think we were doing that."
The Bolts play at AMALIE Arena at 7 p.m. on Thursday night against Nashville.
