"That's not the team we are, and that's not what we do every single night."
"That's not the team we are, and that's not what we do every single night."
It was a tough night in Tampa as the Lightning faced the Panthers for the second time this season. Just 24 seconds into the game, Brandon Hagel opened the scoring, putting the Lightning up 1-0, but the Panthers responded quickly, scoring four goals in the next eleven minutes.
Sergei Bobrovsky had 28 saves total, including a breakaway on Nikita Kucherov. Carter Verhaeghe lit the scoreboard up against his former team, grabbing two goals and adding an assist. The nine goals scored were the Panthers' most in a road game.
“This team's got a lot of pride in that locker room. It happens. I've been pretty fortunate not to see something like that very many times in my career, but it does happen,” said Lightning Coach Jon Cooper. “Nobody's immune to it. It's how you respond. That's the great challenge we have in front of us."
Hagel, who gave the Lightning the lead 24 seconds in, felt this game wasn't a representation of who they are as a team. “That’s not the team we are, and that’s not what we do every single night.”
After a win in Boston and again at home against Colorado, the Lightning found themselves in a good spot heading into Saturday’s game. This was just one bad one in a long stretch of many good showings.
"I've been on both sides of these types of nights. It's tough when you're on this side,” said Steven Stamkos. “We know how we have to respond after an embarrassing loss like that."
The Lightning will be back at home Monday against the Senators.
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