After his team’s latest defeat, the frustration was evident on the case of Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper.
The Lightning dropped a 2-1 decision to the Washington Capitals Saturday night, and their record fell to 14-13-3. The team has now lost 67 man-games to injury this year.
This time, the Bolts lost Jonathan Drouin in pregame and Ondrej Palat early in the game.
“I’m speechless this keeps happening,” Cooper said. “This isn’t October anymore. This is almost Christmas.”
The Lightning outshot Washington 35-20, but as they have for most of the season, the Lightning struggled to bury the puck. Their only goal came from Nikita Kucherov, who has scored five in the last four games.
“We have to score more than one,” Cooper said. “You can’t expect your goaltender to do it every night.”
It was the ninth loss of the season for Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop, but the 18th time he has held an opponent to two goals or fewer. Bishop and Braden Holtby of Washington entered the game as the top two in the NHL in goals-against average.
Tampa Bay is at Columbus Monday night to play against former coach John Tortorella.
