Wednesday, 4 a.m.
They struggle on the right. They flail against their own division.
Given that, what kind of chance did the Tampa Bay Lightning have traveling to Boston to play the Bruins?
Boston walloped the Bolts, 6-2, on Tuesday night. They scored the game’s first four goals — on only nine shots — to take a huge lead six minutes and six seconds in to the second period.
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“If we knew why, it would be easy to fix,” the Lightning’s Victor Hedman said. “We have to have better starts for sure. We’ve got ot make sure we start the game on time.”
The Lightning fell to 2-6 in the Atlantic Division and 10-10-2 on the road.
“I was actually thinking that if we weren’t’ flying out tomorrow, i don’t think we would have gotten in til 5 in the morning,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “That’s how long that third period lasted.. There wasn’t a ton of flow. It shouldn’t matter. It’s still a 60-minute game.”
The Bolts played without top goal scorer Brayden Point, who was being disciplined for missing a team meeting.
“We’ve had a standard for the 12 years I’ve been here,” Cooper said. “This is professional sports. We’ve got rules. It’s unfortunate it happened in a game we really needed him. The one who feels the worst about it is Pointer. I felt awful for him. l wish we could have had him tonight.
Tampa Bay, as has been their trend lately, started slowly again. They gave up a goal 4:24 into the game and another at 9:31. In the second period, they gave up a goal 1:13 into the period and another at 6:05 p.m.
The Bolts came back with goals by Conor Geekie and Victor Hedman. But they would get no closer. Boston added two empty-net goals to pad their winning margin.i was thinking if we’re
David Pastrnak scored a goal and had two assists. In 23 career games against the Lightning, he has 23 goals.
The Lightning is home against Anaheim Thursday night at 7 p.m.