The Tampa Bay Lightning seemed to have found their playoff mojo after two impressive wins this weekend on the road against the New York Islanders and the New Jersey Devils.
Then they rolled into Philadelphia, played well for the first two periods, and completely fell apart in the third period, dropping a 6-2 decision to the Flyers.
The two wins against the Islanders and the Devils were much-needed wins for the Lightning after losing three consecutive games at home and looking like anything but a playoff team.
The Lightning beat the Islanders 4-2 on Saturday afternoon despite allowing the Islanders five power-play opportunities.
Nikita Kucherov First To 100 Points
The Bolts beat the Devils 4-1 on Sunday afternoon as Nikita Kucherov had a goal and three assists to become the first player in the NHL to go over the 100-point mark this season.
Kucherov had an assist in the loss to the Flyers and has the lead on Nathan Mackinnon of Colorado by five points in the scoring race.
With just over six weeks remaining in the regular season, every point matters as the Lightning try to improve their playoff positioning.
The Lightning are in the number two wild card position—three points behind Detroit.
With the two wins during the road trip, the Lightning are now five points in front of New Jersey and six points in front of Washington for the final wildcard spot.
Jon Cooper has repeatedly said the goal is just to get a playoff spot. I’m sure he would rather have one of the top seeds, but at the end of the day, this Lightning team is playoff-tested and has proven they can win close playoff games on the road.
Cooper talked about the team pride displayed in the two road wins. “It’s a pretty proud team in there. We lost three straight at home, which rarely happens to us. We need to be a determined group to try and make the playoffs here, and they showed it.”
Brayden Point talked about the competitive level and the attention to detail in the D-zone as the keys to the two impressive wins in his post-game comments. “I think it just kind of shows us how we need to play to win games. I thought our compete level was a lot higher, and I think blocking shots and really having an attention to detail in the D-zone was huge for us.“
Lightning Must Reduce Penalties
Cooper was not happy with the amount of penalties that the team took. “We took too many penalties, and it cost us,” Cooper said. Other than that, we had a hell of a game.”
So, what has changed for the Lightning? Jon Cooper talked about having the right mindset as a big difference-maker.
“I think, first and foremost, it’s our mindset and what it takes to win in the league and what it takes to win down the stretch. When you give up two goals a game or one goal a game, good things are going to happen. We’re not beating ourselves, and that’s something we’ve done, especially on that homestand. Guys have made a conscious effort to make sure that’s not happening, and you can see the results.”
One area that the Lightning must improve is the power play. It’s hard to say that the PP needs improving when they lead the league at 29.8. But the Bolts are just two of their last fifteen for 13.3 percent.
The Lightning are back home Thursday night to begin a five-game home stand when they take on the Buffalo Sabres.
The Bolts will also play Montreal, Calgary, Philadelphia, and the New York Rangers on the homestand.