Tuesday, 4 a.m.
They lost? Didn’t the Tampa Bay Lightning cure that?
For eight straight games, one of the longest streaks in the NHL this season, the Bolts were a dynamo. They scored. They shut down the opponent. They killed penalties. They managed the power play.
On Monday night, it all ended.
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The Bolts dropped a 2-1 game to the Florida Panthers, who moved five points ahead of them into second place in the Atlantic Division. The Bolts, who had scored 31 goals in their previous eight games, managed just one goal. They gave up two. They didn’t score on seven power play chances. Their penalty killers gave up a goal.
And they lost.
“(Special teams) were a part of it, there’s no question,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “We had 10-plus minutes of power play time, and we couldn’t tuck one in. Ultimately, that was the difference. Theirs hit the back of the net and ours hit the post.”
The Bolts gave up two goals to Aleksander Barkov — his first multi-goal game of the season — which beat them. Tampa Bay came back to get a goal from Brayden Point — his 32nd — but couldn't’ manage another despite both Anthony Cirelli and Victor Hedman hitting posts in the third period. Ryan McDonald also had a breakaway but was denied.
Panthers’ goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 28 shots for his 26th win.
The Bolts play at home tonight at Amalie Arena against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 7 p.m.