TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning’s season-long winning streak came to an end Monday night with a 2-1 loss at cross-state rival Florida. Before that loss to the Panthers, the Bolts had not lost a game in regulation since January 28 for eight straight wins.
The best thing after a tough loss is to get right back on the ice and that’s what the Lightning will do with a home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
“I think it gives us not that much time to dwell on it or anything, look at some video, learn from last night,” forward Gage Goncavles said. “Honestly, I thought we played a pretty good game, just a couple bounces their way and we didn’t get ours at the end.”
The Lightning played well enough to win Monday against the Panthers, allowing just the two goals. But the team’s body of work has put them in good position for the postseason.
“That’s what we are trying to do,” captain Victor Hedman said. “Obviously we want to get everything together and win hockey games. Do you expect eight in a row? Probably not. We are super happy with the way we played. When you give up one or two goals that’s a good sign. To get eight in a row, we put ourselves in a good spot. At the end of the day we want to catch the teams in front of us.”
If there is a part of Tampa Bay’s game struggling right now, it’s the power play. Over the past 13 games, the power play is 6-for-34 (17.6%). Overall this season the Lightning have a 26.2% success rate.
“I don’t know if it’s up and down. We scored against Washington. We scored the game before that,” Hedman said. “(Monday) we had a lot of opportunities and we couldn’t score. That’s how it is sometimes. We believe in the groups we have. The players we have and the personnel we have. We proved in the past and we proved this year.”
Forward Brandon Hagel is having a career-best season with 30 goals so far. He’s also just the third player in NHL history to net 30 goals without a power play goal.
The Lightning host Columbus at 7 p.m.
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