TAMPA, Fla. — Last season, the Lightning had 20 wins through 42 games. This year, Tampa Bay has 23 wins and 49 points. There are plenty of new faces in new places on the Lightning roster this season. Add that to the normal x-factors that affect a hockey season, and the Bolts seem to be in good shape. But of course, there's always room for improvement.
"There’s always stuff that you want to improve on and stuff that we’re happy with. Just for us, we have to play a full [sixty minutes] the way we can," Lightning captain Victor Hedman said after Thursday's practice. "Just focus on the next game. That’s the bottom line. We have ten games here before a little break, so we just have to get as many points as we possibly can."
Tampa Bay's been plagued by a stretch of slow starts to their games. Head coach Jon Cooper knows that's a problem, but he also knows he has a group of players that is addressing the issue among themselves.
"The big thing is they recognize it," said Cooper, the longest-tenured coach in the NHL (13 seasons). "That old adage 'You gotta start on time' has been a bit of a thorn in our side here of late. The fact that we have a leadership group and they can just self-evaluate and recognize… you kinda like that about your guys."
The Lightning lost to tonight's opponent, the Anaheim Ducks, 4-1 on Jan. 5. That marked another game where the Bolts got off to a slow start. Forward Nick Paul is looking for a better result tonight.
"We thought that we should’ve done a little better- our starts are hurting us. That was one of the games where we came out flat," Paul recalled after morning skate. "We know the game plan. We don’t need to do anything crazy to change what we had drawn up already. Just work ethic and coming to play."
Tampa Bay and Anaheim face off tonight at 7 p.m. at AMALIE Arena.
Lightning center Brayden Point is expected to be back on the ice. He was benched for Tuesday's game at Boston for missing a team meeting.
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