The March 7th NHL Trade Deadline made for a busy week, with the Lightning adding to their forward depth in acquiring Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand.
“I'm more excited about the quality of the team that I think I have now and in the players that I have on the team. I'm always looking at this season and beyond,” GM Julien BriseBois said on Wednesday after trading two first round picks to Seattle for Gourde and Bjorkstrand. “I think we're better equipped now to win a lot of hockey games at the end of the day. That's what we’re trying to do.”
The Lightning have received league-wide praise for the moves they made at the deadline, in addition to their ability to close out games in the past month. Tampa Bay has won ten of their last 12, recently beating a strong Washington Capitals team on the road. But sometimes life comes at you fast in the NHL and that was the case this week for the Lightning.
In the midst of adding two new players, Tampa Bay managed to pull off a bumpy 6-5 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday and were shutout 4-0 against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
"I think it started two nights ago when Buffalo came in. I don't think they were ready to play that game and clearly they weren't ready tonight," said Lightning coach Jon Cooper after the 4-0 loss to Boston. "Maybe it's a little bit of seeing some of the guys out of their lineup and you can't do that in this league. It was a hard lesson learned but a team that came in here and worked their tails off."
The Lightning are known around the league for being a difficult team to play against at home. Prior to Saturday’s loss, they hadn’t been shut out at Amalie Arena since Nov. 11, 2023, in a 4-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Inside the Lightning dressing room, the players were openly aware that the effort shown on Saturday was not on par with the standard that is expected of them.
“We were definitely sloppy with the puck on our stick,” said defenseman Ryan McDonagh. “Turnovers were at an all time high for us in the season. But in the end, we got out worked, if we're really looking at the big picture here.”
The Lightning committed 19 turnovers on Saturday and were playing without their captain Victor Hedman, who is considered week to week with a lower-body injury.
Boston made five trades just 24 hours prior to puck drop, which included sending veteran forward and captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers. Even with the recent changes, the Bruins showed fight against the Lightning.
“When you don't recognize a lot of the players faces, they play a lot harder and that's what they did tonight,” said Lightning forward Brandon Hagel. “And we knew that coming into the game.”
“They just played harder than us, they outworked us, I think that’s the bottom line. I don't think that's anywhere near Tampa Bay Lightning hockey, and I think everyone in this room knows it. You’ve got to turn the page on something like that.”
Jon Cooper said the team has already turned the page on Saturday’s performance, one he felt wasn’t good enough to win in the NHL.
“They shoot it, it hits off our stick and bounces in. If I could just bottle up that moment, that was pretty much 60 minutes of tonight,” said Cooper. “And so, it's unfortunate we blow an opportunity to try and gain some ground. Now we have to make it up in a couple nights.”
The Lightning remain in the third place spot in the Atlantic Division, just one point behind Toronto. They visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday.
“We’re still chasing something," said Hagel. "I think that’s good for the group here and I think we can kind of sit back, take the day and come back to work on Monday."
