"If we don't shoot ourselves in the foot, we have a chance to win. And that was kind of the message this morning,”
There’s a list of reasons why last night’s win against the Bruins was a pivotal one for the Lightning. Besides stating the obvious that Boston has the best record in the league again this year, the Lightning showed a side to their team that we haven’t necessarily seen yet this season.
The Bolts needed to deliver a complete 60 minute performance in order to stay toe to toe with Boston, and in this case get their first win in overtime. It was just a few weeks ago that Brandon Hagel said he felt like they were cursed after losing to Seattle in overtime at home. Ultimately, it came down to winning the faceoff. A season ago, that would have sounded simple, but this year it’s been a mental roadblock for the team.
When you ask captain Steven Stamkos where the positive changes have been coming from this past week, he’ll tell you it’s a combination of good execution and having the right mindset going into games. He’s been drilling it into the team that they have the talent it takes to win big games.
“When we play some good teams, it seems like we're up for it. In other games, we just make mistakes, and it snowballs. So if we don't shoot ourselves in the foot, we have a chance to win. And that was kind of the message we had this morning,” said Stamkos.
'That's a really good team over there. They have a great record but we have a good team too. We don't have the same record because we’ve played a little reckless at times.”
Lightning coach Jon Cooper was impressed with his team’s ability to keep going even after falling behind.
“There’s such a positive energy on the bench. Even when Boston scored tonight with three-plus minutes left, I think everybody on the bench felt like we were going to score again,” said Cooper.
“We did take it down to the dying seconds, but the effort level from the guys these last few games – they’re working. And they’re being rewarded for it. It’s not always perfect and some of them are ugly, but I’m just really happy for the guys and the work they put in to pull that one out.”
The Big Guys led the way..
Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Nikita Kucherov put on a clinic as to how to push through a deficit and win big games. Their confidence spills over to the rest of the locker room.
Kucherov left the game in the second period with an injury but returned at the start of the third. Jon Cooper wasn’t sure Kucherov would make it back, as he seemed to be in some pain. He didn’t just make it back, he turned the heat up quickly.
His pass to Stamkos from across the ice, backhanded, and through a ton of traffic, gave the captain a chance to tie it up with 4.8 seconds remaining.
“You take a peek at the clock, there’s a couple of seconds left, there’s only maybe one other guy in the league that can make that pass, if that,” said Stamkos.
“But I know it’s coming or he’s attempting to do it and if it gets through, then I’ve got a good chance to put it on net.”
It was well known that prior to Monday night, the Lightning have had overtime woes, struggling to get possession of the puck from the start. When Stamkos won the opening faceoff in overtime, the crowd screamed in unison and Stamkos heard it while he was on the ice.
“It’s nice to get out there and win a couple draws. The crowd let us know about it too.”
Victor Hedman then circled back to his own blue line, waiting for a line change. Hedman passed it to Brandon Hagel as he left the bench and as they say, the rest was history.
While Hagel was skating up alone on a breakaway, he pretended to shoot high and slammed it through Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman, giving the Bolts their first overtime win of the season.
The Bolts will turn the page quickly as they face Winnipeg on Wenesday night at Amalie Arena.