The Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t just lose Game 1 of their Round 1 playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday, they left their head coach furious about how it slipped away.
A chaotic 4-3 overtime defeat saw Montreal take a 1-0 series lead, and now, Tampa Bay finds itself needing a response.
Lightning HC Jon Cooper Sounds Off After OT Loss
Josh Anderson put the Montreal Canadiens up 1-0 in the first period. Darren Raddysh tied it with a second-period power-play goal, and Brandon Hagel restored the Tampa Bay Lightning lead moments later.
Juraj Slafkovsky evened the score with a late second-period power-play goal and added another power-play tally early in the third to make it 3-2. Hagel then tied it again midway through the third.
But the turning point came in overtime. A late high-sticking penalty on Tampa Bay winger Jake Guentzel with 21 seconds left in regulation gave Montreal a power play that carried into OT. It didn’t take long for Slafkovsky to complete his hat trick, ending the game just 1:22 into overtime and sealing a 4-3 Canadiens win.
Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper didn’t sugarcoat anything after the loss, pointing directly at his team’s discipline, or lack of it.
“I had a problem with us. We took four offensive zone penalties. Just look at them. That’s not over-aggression, that was stupidity, a lot of them,” Cooper said. “That was on us. That was a game that we just gave them an opportunity to win.”
He didn’t stop there. “This is the Stanley Cup playoffs. This is not Game No. 62. So, that was extremely disappointing in the way that we conducted ourselves and the amount of penalties that we took,” he added.
The Lightning, who were the most penalized team in the NHL during the regular season, paid the price once again. Montreal went 3-for-5 on the power play, repeatedly punishing Tampa Bay’s lapses in judgement.
Cooper made it clear the concern isn’t just the loss, it’s how it happened. “If that’s the way it’s going to keep going, then this series isn’t going to be as long as we thought,” he said.
Game 2 is on Tuesday in Tampa Bay.
The Lightning finished the regular season with a 50-26-6 record, securing the second spot in the Atlantic Division. Montreal, meanwhile, entered as the third seed in the division with a 48-24-10 mark.
With the Canadiens now holding a 1-0 series lead, the pressure is already firmly on Tampa Bay.
Montréal was 3 for 5 on PP not 2 for 5. Tampa was 2 for 5