TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning are in a slump, and head coach Jon Cooper knows it.
Tampa Bay has gone 2-6 in eight games since the Olympic break, giving up more than 4.5 goals per contest. The skid is a stark contrast to the dominant stretch that followed a rocky 1-4-2 start to the season.
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Cooper said the path back runs through the basics.
"A lot of it has to do with the little things in the game that we can control. A lot of it [is mental], too," Cooper said Thursday morning. "The season's a grind, and you have to fight through some of these dog days. And we're in some dog days now."
One bright spot during the slide has been center Gage Goncalves, who has already surpassed his point total from last season. Goncalves said doing the little things right is one of the keys to turning things around.
"A little bit more detail-oriented. Whether it's mentally or physically. Our game plan, how we're dealing with pucks, how we're getting pucks out of our own end," Gage said after Thursday's morning skate. "The mentality we have going into games. I think we have the team in here to manage to do that. So hopefully, we can get back to focusing on those little details, and the rest of it kinda takes care of itself."
Cooper said the lessons learned during that difficult early stretch of the season should serve them well as they get ready for the home stretch.
"You hope now in game 64 that those things you learned back then, that's what prepares you for now," he added. "That was early in the season, so we had more time to like...we needed it to kinda put the thumb down."
Cooper said forward Nick Paul and defenseman Erik Cernak will not play tonight. He said they're likely to be game-time decisions going forward. The Bolts have 19 regular season games remaining, beginning with tonight's home match-up against the Detroit Red Wings. Puck drop is set for just after 7 p.m.
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