TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning (43-27-7) clinched their seventh straight playoff berth during their three-game road trip.
That means they now have an “X” by their name when looking at the standings. Head coach Jon Cooper wants to prevent that “X” from meaning “exhale.”
“Kind of when you see that X by your name,” Cooper said Tuesday. “Human nature takes over at times, and there can be an exhale. I felt that was part of the first two periods of the Pittsburgh game. We don’t want to see that stroll into this game and Thursday and Saturday.”
The Bolts host the Columbus Blue Jackets (26-40-12) on Tuesday night. They look to bounce back from Saturday’s 5-4 loss at Pittsburgh.
Over the last month, Tampa Bay has played its best hockey of the season, going 10-2-1. These final five games are important to keep that momentum going into the postseason.
“I think this last run we’ve been on we’ve tightened it up,” forward Nick Paul said. “We’ve played the hockey we want to play, playing together, we’ve been building together, gaining confidence. When this team is playing at the level we can play, we’re doing the right things, we’re playing with confidence, we all believe in here that we are that team.”
To be ‘that team’, it starts with goal prevention. In the last 13 games, the defense has been stingy, allowing 2.46 goals per game. That’s a credit to improved play in front of the net and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy finding his form after missing the first 20 games of the season.
“I think it’s just building in the right way and making sure we are doing the right things going into the playoffs,” defenseman Darren Raddysh said. “We have four games at home, one on the road, we’re trying to build as much momentum as we can.”
The Blue Jackets open the final stretch of the regular season, while Toronto is the only team left on the schedule currently in a playoff spot.
