Now that it has been established that the Tampa Bay Lightning will not go undefeated this year, coach Jon Cooper has a request.
How about a lead, for crying out loud?
The Lighting, which has trailed in every game this year, could mount no comeback Thursday night. They lost 4-0 to Colorado, giving up goals in the final minute of each of the first two periods. The Lightning came close – Nikita Kucherov hit the post, and Andrej Sustr was off-sides on a goal – but for the most part, the defense of the Avalanche held up.
Colorado had only 16 shots for the game, but four of them went into the net. Two of them were by Matt Duchene.
Semyon Varlamov had 27 saves for the 21st shutout of his career.
The Lightning had trailed 2-0 in its first two comeback wins and 2-1 and 3-2 in its third.
“We can’t keep playing from behind,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “We played from behind in our first four games. Did we desereve to be playing from behind in all four games? Did we deserve to be playing from behind tonight. It’d be nice to have the lead. You just can’t keep testing fate.”
The Lightning now begin a six-game road trip, starting Saturday night in Ottawa.
