TAMPA, FL. – After the Lightning blew a two-goal lead in the third period of a 5-3 loss to the Devils on Saturday, Pat Maroon spoke about how they got what they deserved. Jon Cooper added that his team played the final 20 minutes with a “sense of arrogance.”
Allowing four goals in the third period to New Jersey proved to be the least of their problems. Brayden Point was lost for an unspecified period of time due to an injury suffered midway through the third period when he was tripped by the Devils’ Ryan Graves and slammed into the end boards.
Point, who was awarded a penalty shot, was noticeably in pain. He remained in the game and, with the Lightning trailing 4-3, missed on the penalty shot.
The Lightning had little time to lick their wounds as the Wild were in town Sunday for the back end of back-to-back games at Amalie Arena. Another two-goal lead was blown, this time in the final couple of minutes, but the Bolts were able to salvage two points in a shootout victory.
As they prepare to host the Flyers on Tuesday, a game that will end a stretch of four games in six days, the Lightning will have to find a way to make do without Point and Kucherov, as they did Sunday, for who knows how long. In addition, defenseman Erik Cernak remains out on a week-to-week basis with an upper body injury.
“When you have injuries like we do, you need guys to step in, you need your depth to help you out,” said Cooper.
The Lightning got some help from rookie Alex Barre-Boulet. Summoned from the organization’s American Hockey League affiliate in Syracuse on Sunday morning, Barre-Boulet found himself on the top line with Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat for the 5 p.m. faceoff. He logged 12:16 of ice time and scored at 9:19 of the third period to give Tampa Bay a 4-2 lead.
“I think as a group, everybody has to step up and have that next guy up mentality,” said Antony Cirelli, who on Sunday recorded his first two-goal game since February 28, 2021 at Nashville.
Stepping up was the dominant theme when Kucherov was shelved after three games and will have to prevail in a big way for as long as Point is out, which will be a time period of some length. Cooper, though, was not prepared Sunday evening to say how long Point’s absence might be.
“It is hard enough for as long as we have had to do without Kooch, and now we are without Pointer and Kooch,” said Cooper. “That’s why you have to train the guys and have the mindset that regardless of who is in the lineup, roles are going to change for players, but our mission stays the same.”
As for blowing a second two-goal, third-period lead in as many days, Cooper did not talk about arrogance or appear upset. Rather, he more or less tipped his cap to the Wild and how they scrambled to score twice late (17:12 and 19:21) with the goaltender pulled.
The Lightning were challenged in the final 1:37 of overtime when they successfully killed off a Minnesota power play after Alex Killorn was whistled for interference. That set the stage for the shootout, in which Stamkos scored the lone goal and Brian Elliott came up big at the other end by making three saves to secure two points.
“Guys picked up the slack and we were able to eke out two points,” said Cooper. “We have to do this moving forward. Credit the guys in (the room). The young guys are coming along, which is great to see.”
After hosting the Flyers on Tuesday night, the Lightning get a couple of days off for Thanksgiving before hosting the expansion Seattle Kraken on Friday. Both games are at 7 p.m.
Cooper was recognized Sunday as the Lightning Community Hero on Sunday. A $50,000 donation from the Lightning Foundation and Lightning Community Heroes program will be given to pediatric cancer research and patient services through Coop’s Catch For Kids, which was launched by the coach and his wife, Jessie, in 2016.
“What an honor,” said Cooper. “I was taken aback. It was really, really touching.”
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