MONTREAL — With three games remaining in the regular season, the Lightning are jockeying for postseason position following a 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens Thursday night.
Tampa Bay is currently on a three-game losing skid and know there is no margin for error if they want to control their playoff path. The match-up against the Canadiens will likely be a first-round playoff preview.
"We lost. 2-1. That’s how I describe it," head coach Jon Cooper said frankly.
Tampa Bay killed off all seven Montreal penalties, six of which came in the first two periods. The Bolts were 0-4 on their power play opportunities. The two teams combined for more than 100 penalty minutes in the second frame alone.
"We didn’t get it done," Cooper added. "It was tiring. It was tiring for some of the guys. I think we killed 13 minutes of penalties. That’s a fair amount of the game."
"Things were heated, but when we play that way, that’s when we’re effective. We just have to keep that emotion up," forward Corey Perry said after the game. "We’re not going to back down from anybody. It’s in our DNA in this dressing room. That’s how we play. That’s how we are. When we do that, we’re effective."
Tampa Bay is treating its remaining games like playoff matchups to start playing its best hockey at the right time.
"They’re all important. We want to feel good about our game. It’s great at times. It gets away from us at times. That’s the way the game goes," defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "We’ll keep fighting and clawing, and do whatever we can to win the last three games for us."
"We’ve got more wins than losses this year. We’re still in the playoffs. We’re just probably not playing like a playoff team right now, but we’ll turn the page and move on," Cooper said.
The entire league has an off day on Friday. The Lightning will play the Bruins in Boston Saturday at 12:30 p.m., before returning for home games on Monday against the Red Wings and Wednesday against the Rangers to end the regular season.
Tampa Bay enters the weekend with 102 points. They trail Montreal (104) and Buffalo (106) for the Atlantic Division lead. The Lightning and Canadiens each have three regular-season games remaining, while Buffalo has two.
Nearly all Lightning games will be broadcast live on The Spot – Tampa Bay 66 (WXPX-TV) and will also be streamed here.
The Spot Tampa Bay 66 is the official broadcast partner of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Spot and Tampa Bay 28 are both owned by EW Scripps.
Share Your Story with Kevin
Tampa Bay 28 Sports Anchor Kevin Lewis knows what happens on the field ties us together. From parents coaching kids to young athletes achieving life-long dreams, Kevin shares stories we can all celebrate. Reach out to him below.
.
Multiple Hillsborough County schools are closing down in 2027
Tampa Bay 28 reporter Jada Williams has the latest on how Hillsborough County Public Schools is planning major student reassignments and school closures for the 2027-28 school year.
