The Lightning stumbled to a season-opening 5-1 road loss against the New York Rangers on Thursday, far below Tampa Bay’s standard but an October occurrence the club has seen before.
Tampa Bay will look to bounce back from its poor debut when it hosts the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.
Last season, the Lightning were abysmal out of the gate.
They won just once in their first seven games (1-4-2), but they got back on track and earned 106 points before falling to the Montreal Canadiens in a seven-game first-round playoff series.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper understands the ups and downs that come with the job, but the Big Apple drubbing felt different.
“It’s how you go about (winning and losing games),” the 15th-year coach said. “I just thought we had limited pushback. And that’s just not a staple of what’s gone on in this room.
“It’s almost like the game was an inconvenience to play and got in the way of something. That’s what was disappointing: the lack of pushback.”
Almost everything went right for the Rangers, as newcomers Pavel Dorofeyev and Eeli Tolvanen scored for the first time with their new club. Even goaltender Igor Shesterkin got in on the action, netting the first goalie goal in 100 years of franchise history after Lightning backstop Andrei Vasilevskiy vacated the crease for an extra skater.
The Lightning’s vaunted power play was rendered harmless in a 0-for-7 showing.
“There was maybe a lack of execution in some areas,” Tampa Bay winger Brandon Hagel said. “Other than that, I think we’ll be fine. It’s one game. … I’d be more worried about 5-on-5 (play) than the power play.”
Nikita Kucherov scored Tampa Bay’s only goal.
The Capitals enjoyed a far more successful season opener, beating the reigning Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 on Friday in Raleigh, N.C.
Former Buffalo Sabres winger Alex Tuch made an immediate impression, netting two goals in his Capitals debut.
Tuch, 30, potted 139 goals in five seasons for Buffalo before being traded to the Capitals on June 24 for David Kampf and a 2027 third-round draft pick.
After playing right wing his entire career with Minnesota, Vegas and Buffalo, Tuch has moved to the top line’s left side with Pierre-Luc Dubois in the middle and Tom Wilson to the right.
Tuch scored on his first Washington shot to open the scoring, then tallied again to put the Capitals up 3-0 in the first period.
Washington’s Cole Hutson, Jakob Chychrun and Ryan Leonard also had goals, and goalie Logan Thompson recorded 31 saves.
Tuch downplayed the switch to left wing.
“I don’t think it’s a huge difference,” he said. “A lot of times when you’re coming into the zone it’s just whatever side you end up on. … Whoever comes in first is going to play center, and we’re going to read and react off them.”
Coach Spencer Carbery said the back-to-back on the road at Carolina and Tampa Bay is imposing.
“We know Tampa. It’s their home opener, and it’s a tough building to play in,” Carbery said.
