The Tampa Bay Lightning return to Florida having received a little bit of everything on their three-game road trip, but now the attention turns to settling a score with a Western Conference club.
Coach Jon Cooper’s team heads back out onto home ice Thursday night to cap the season series with the Anaheim Ducks in the opener of a quick two-game homestand.
In its trio of road tilts (1-1-1), the Lightning’s results spanned the hockey gamut — an overtime loss in New Jersey plus handing out a rout in Pittsburgh and being on the receiving end of one in Boston.
Anaheim arrives for the fifth game of its East Coast journey — a bumpy flight so far from the Ducks’ perspective.
Posting a 1-3-0 mark, the club has been blanked twice on the trip (Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals) to go along with a 3-2 overtime win over the Carolina Hurricanes and a 6-2 setback in the opener at the St. Louis Blues.
Anaheim won 4-1 on Jan. 5 in the Lightning’s California trip finale, so the Atlantic Division team will be looking for a bit of payback.
It would probably like some redemption from Tuesday night’s 6-2 drubbing in Boston as well.
The Bruins, who stumbled through a six-game winless skid (0-5-1), tallied four times in their first 10 shots and conquered a playoff team from Florida for the second time in four days despite the visitors whistling a season-high 45 shots on goal.
“It was the whole road trip,” said Cooper, who healthy-scratched productive center Brayden Point (25 goals, 22 assists) for missing a meeting before the Beantown beatdown. “We took the first period off in every game and basically had to play a two-period game.
“It’s frustrating because it’s the best league in the world. You can’t just sit here and say you’re going to play 40 minutes and expect to win games. … We just didn’t show up on time.”
Right winger Nikita Kucherov moved his point streak to six games (three goals, six assists), while Victor Hedman managed a goal and an assist to stretch his point streak to four games.
Hedman, the club’s captain, crafted his 175th career multi-point contest with his ninth this season, extending his franchise record for defensemen.
In the win over the Lightning nearly two weeks ago, the Ducks’ Frank Vatrano celebrated signing a new contract that Sunday with a three-point game (two goals and an assist).
It marked the largest margin of victory since a 5-2 one at the Seattle Kraken on Nov. 27.
However, Vatrano (11 goals, 13 assists) has not hit the net and only has one assist in the five games since.
Through Tuesday’s matches, Anaheim’s offense ranks last in goals per game (2.41) and faceoff wins (41.0 percent).
Its power play clicks at 12.9 percent, only better than the New York Islanders’ 10.5.
“We’ve got to find a way to produce offense,” said coach Greg Cronin after being shut out 3-0 against the Capitals on Tuesday. “I don’t know if we had a shot on net on the power play or got set up. … We keep thinking about ways to generate more offense without sacrificing defense.”
With games at Tampa Bay and the Florida Panthers left on the trip, Anaheim is 3-2-2 against Atlantic Division opposition and 8-7-3 versus Eastern Conference teams.
–Field Level Media
