Rocky Start Doesn't Mean the End For Lightning
- Mike Smith
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
By Mike Smith | Thunderstruck Sports
The Tampa Bay Lightning found themselves in an all-too-familiar situation after Sunday evening's loss to the Montreal Canadiens in overtime: in an early series deficit. But don't throw the baby out with the bathwater quite yet. It's only the first game, and there's still a great deal of hockey left to be played.
Lightning detractors are already pointing out the fact that the Lightning have now lost their last 10 playoff home games, dating back to the Stanley Cup Final loss to the Colorado Avalanche in 2022.
Disgruntled fans will point out that Tampa Bay has struggled in overtime during the playoffs, losing their last five overtime games since 2023, and 12 of its last 13 playoff games in overtime since 2020.
Yes, these are facts and accurate numbers. Yes, over the past few years, the Lightning have struggled statistically. However, let's not forget one thing when it comes to numbers such as these:
Those statistics are, in fact, historical.
Some choose to add "another OT loss at home" from Sunday night to the historical data and say that the Lightning can't overcome these obstacles.
Lightning fans and hockey pundits must remember this going into Game 2: This is not the same team that was ushered out of the playoffs in the first round the past three seasons.
Each team differed from the others in many ways. This team, the 2025-26 incarnation, is not the same as the teams we've seen before.
Players have come and gone, and some players have left and returned. Some are playing elsewhere. Some aren't playing in the NHL at all. Some have developed in the Lightning farm system and are making a name for themselves as the season progresses.
Are they having issues? Of course. Did they beat themselves Sunday evening? Absolutely.
But don't count them out quite yet.
First, Let's Face This Fact: Montreal is Pretty Damn Good
If you're someone who thinks that the Montreal Canadiens are a team that was going to come into Tampa and roll over, I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you.
This is a very good team visiting from the Canadian province of Quebec.
They tied Tampa Bay with 106 points this season, and the Lightning only earned the home ice advantage due to the regulation win tiebreaker. Their season has exceeded many expectations.
Four starters for Montreal are playing their best hockey at the right time this season. Cole Caufield is a 50+ goal scorer this season. Nick Suzuki scored 101 points, his best season ever.
Game one hero Juraj Slafkovsky, who had a hat trick Sunday evening, had 30 goals and 43 assists this year, a personal best for both categories. He's been a thorn in the side of Tampa Bay recently, scoring seven goals with three assists in his last four games against the Bolts.
Even Habs defenseman Lane Hutson is in on the act with 12 goals and 66 assists for a +36.
On Sunday, Suzuki and Caufield each had two assists, and Hutson had one.
Add in an especially hot goaltender in upstart Jakub Dobes and the coaching mind of Martin St. Louis, and I've got news for you: Montreal is the real deal.
To add, they are the underdogs in this series. They know this, and they want to relish and embrace that.
After Game One, they are now playing with the house's money on top of everything else.
Are The Lightning Beating Themselves? Absolutely!
Did Tampa Bay beat themselves on Sunday night as much as Montreal played a great game on their end of the ice? Yes.
Puckchasing has been an issue the past few months since the team returned from the three-week Olympic Break. Overloading one side of the defensive ice has cost them, and Sunday night was no exception.
Josh Anderson's opening goal at the 13:24 mark of the first period was the result of too many Lightning players jammed up on the right side.
Gage Goncalves and Darren Raddysh were at or below the goal line chasing Alexandre Carrier. Meanwhile, JJ Moser and Brayden Point were along the boards after losing track of the puck with Carrier, leaving Anderson alone to get the pass and put it in the net.
Slafkovsky was left unattended between the hashes when he scored his second goal at the 5:56 mark of the third period to give Montreal a 3-2 lead.
With powerhouses such as Slafkovsky, Caufield, and Suzuki out there, the Lightning will need to do a better job of manning up and end the bad habit of chasing the puck. Play your position and trust your teammates will do the same—bodies on players, not pucks.
Special Teams Must Overcome "Stupid" Penalties
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was not happy with the team's effort after Sunday's result.
"I had a problem with us. We took four offensive-zone penalties. Just look at them. That's not overaggression; that was stupidity on a lot of them. That was on us," Cooper said after the loss.
That included a high-sticking penalty on winger Jake Guentzel with 21 seconds left in regulation, giving the Canadiens a power play that carried over into overtime. Slafkovský ended the game only 1:22 in overtime with seconds remaining on the power play.
"That was a game that we just gave them an opportunity to win. This is the Stanley Cup playoffs. This is not Game No. 62. So, that was extremely disappointing in the way that we conducted ourselves and the amount of penalties that we took," Cooper said.
Tampa Bay had the third-best penalty kill in the NHL for the regular season with 82.6%. Unfortunately, their penalty kill unit slid to 15th since the break at 79.8%.
"If you're going to kill penalties off at 50%, you're probably not going to last that long. But if you're killing penalties off at 50% when you only give up two [penalties], so it's 1-for-2, maybe you can survive. You can't let that happen. That's on us. No excuses," Cooper said.
Sunday night, Montreal went 3-for-5 on the power play, including the game-winner.
"We knew they had a good power play. We need to execute on the penalty kill," Lightning forward Brandon Hagel said afterwards. "It is pretty simple, I think. It starts with myself. It starts with (Anthony) Cirelli. It is our job to kill penalties off, and we didn't do that."
Power Play Shows Signs of Life
There were good things that happened Sunday night, as well. The recently much-maligned power play finally showed signs of life after a dismal past few weeks.
Tampa Bay started the game 0-for-3 on the power play, bringing their effort in the past 12 games to one-for 35 on the man advantage.
However, the Bolts got back into the game with two power play goals, including Hagel's equalizer and second goal of the night at the 8:58 mark of the third period.
Raddysh scored on the power play at the 12:15 mark of the second period to tie the score at 1-1.
Bolts Must Keep Up The Physicality and Avoid the Stupidity
Another positive coming out of Sunday's game was that the Lightning aren't backing down when it comes to standing up for themselves.
Charle-Edouard D'Astous took an elbow to the head from Anderson behind the Lightning net halfway through the second period, knocking him out of the game.
The Lightning made the Canadiens pay with Raddysh's slap shot from the top of the left circle on the ensuing power play. Hagel then rode the momentum and scored 29 seconds later, giving the Lightning a 2-1 lead.
Tampa Bay needs to keep playing a physical, intimidating game and stay out of the penalty box. They must keep the Habs offense in check without creating situations when they have to rely on the penalty kill and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to get them out of a jam.
Plenty of Hockey Yet to be Played
The Lightning did not play an absolutely terrible game on Sunday evening. Montreal played a touch better and made the plays they needed to win the first game of the series.
Tampa Bay made just enough mistakes to be on the losing end. However, there is still plenty of hockey left to play.
Remember, last year the Lightning were drubbed 6-2 in the opening game of the first round by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. They spent the rest of the series chasing their own tails on the way out with an early exit.
The Lightning aren't in that position quite yet.
The Bolts know how to win. They won 50 times this year. They had the tools to win on Sunday night, and fell just short.
For the Lightning history buffs out there lamenting the past few years' efforts, Cooper reminded the media Sunday night that the Lightning had lost the first game and rallied to win a series before. They can do it again.
"That (the loss) isn't as much a concern as how we lost it. If that's the way it's going to keep going, then this series isn't going to be as long as we thought," he said.
A few tweaks here and there, and things will be just fine in Tampa. Tuesday night is a new night, and the Bolts have the opportunity to learn from Sunday evening and apply it going forward.
If they don't, then, to paraphrase, 'Tampa, we may have a problem.'
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