Sunday, 4 a.m.
Imagine a world with a pedestrian goaltender. Imagine Andrei Vasilevskiy getting overwhelmed.
It might look something like this.
Imagine an existence where Nikita Kucherov is just another skater in the crowd? Imagine no goals, no assists, no danger.
Yeah, like Sunday's game.
The Tampa Bay Lightning took it in the nose Sunday, getting clobbered 6-2 by the Buffalo Sabres.
Buffalo didn't seem to care how hot the Bolts have been lately. They jumped to a 5-0 lead, scoring all of their goals off Vasilevskiy on 14 shots.
The Bolts only managed late goals by Dominic James and Victor Hedman. It was Hedman's first goal of the season.
Kucherov had a 12-game scoring streak ended.
"I think it's been a three-game trend for us since post-Olymlpics," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. "Yes, the Toronto game went our way, but you could see holes in our game. These past two have been unacceptable.
"It's really disappointing. To go 50-plus games and put ourselves in the position we're in and play like this. No push-back, no urgency, no drive, no attention to detail. We gave a decently skilled team so much open ice. I'm surprised they didn't have 10. I was really disappointed with our compete level."
The Bolts now go on a four-game road trip, starting Tuesday night at 9:30 p.m. in Minnesota's Grand Casino Arena.