Last season’s playoff exit to the Columbus Blue Jackets by
the Tampa Bay Lightning still stings. While I was visiting the team store, I
cringed when I saw a puck for sale commemorating last season’s record 62 regular
season wins. Last season was a painful and unbelievable experience for Bolts
fans, including yours truly, where I just want this current season to end
already so we can get to the playoffs. Nevertheless, we can’t think about the
playoffs based on the Bolts sub-par start to this season, which is alarming and perhaps
indicates that the Lightning have yet to recover from that disappointment.
Last night, the Lightning hosted the Colorado Avalanche
following back to back wins on the road against Montreal and Boston. This felt
like a home opener since this was only their second game on home ice since the
puck dropped on October 3rd. What the fans witnessed last night was
a lifeless performance where Lighting looked second best for the majority of
the game in a 6-2 loss. Even though they had many shots on goal, those shots
were tame and the level of intensity was not there. This wasn’t the first time
that the Bolts had lost badly this season, which begs the question if teams have
learned how to play the Bolts courtesy of the Blue Jackets.
Since his hiring, Jon Cooper has been a phenomenal coach for
the Lightning. The team is exciting to watch and the fans have a winning product
on the ice. Nonetheless, it’s hard to ignore the fact that over the years, this
team has failed to delivered in the playoffs. Last season’s first round sweep exit
was devastating but not surprising since the warning signs were visible
throughout that season.
Last season, the Lightning may have won 62 games, but the
one main issue noticed by many was that the Lightning did not play focused the
entire 60 minutes of a game. Eight games into this season, that same concern is
still visible. Recently, Lightning Television broadcast analyst Bobby 'The
Chief' Taylor stated that the Lightning need to start outplaying teams and not
outscoring them. That’s exactly how last season played out with the Lightning either
blowing out teams or staging a frantic comeback after being down a couple of
goals to grab a victory. That may work during the regular season where you may
face the team in November and then again in April. However, playoffs hockey is a best of seven playoffs series, so it’s not easy to pull off the same trick against
a team over seven games during two weeks, and that’s what happened against the
Blue Jackets in the playoffs last season.
The Lightning are still trying to outscore teams and not
outplay teams without the same success as last season. However, when it isn’t
working, one wonders if they are shell-shocked and thinking back to last season’s
playoffs collapse. Jon Cooper and the players need to outplay teams the entire
60 minutes and come playoff time, they need to differentiate between regular season
hockey and playoff hockey, where referees call the games differently. Before
thinking of the playoffs, the Bolts need to be tough and cut down the penalties
and the number of shots on their goal. This is a deep talented team and anything
less than a cup is a disappointment as we rue the wasted talent at our
disposal. It’s still early but the Bolts need to get their act together now and
get over last season’s disappointment or risk facing more disappointment.
