The swag might still be on hold.
After showing some life on Sunday, the Tampa Bay Lightning once again had a very quiet offense night, this time falling to the Detroit Red Wings by a score of 2-1.
At the moment, a 4-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes looks more like a blip on the radar than a breakthrough. Just look at their recent work:
Oct. 24: Lost to Chicago 1-0 in OT.
Oct. 27: Lost to St. Louis 2-0.
Oct. 29: 2-1 defeat to Colorado
Oct. 31: Fell 3-1 to Boston.
Nov. 1: 4-3 win vs. Carolina.
Tonight: 2-1 loss to Detroit.
Yeah, that’s not ideal, and they’re not scoring very often at even-strength.
#TBLightning Kucherov: "Can't win games scoring one goal."
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) November 4, 2015
Much has been made of Jon Cooper (at least previously?) not being concerned about Tampa Bay’s slow start. It’s at least worth wondering if maybe the Bolts should pick up the pace a little, isn’t it?
1st INT talking points w/TB-DET: "not a lot of room out there" "not many dangerous players" "chip pucks zzz" Way too much talent for that.
— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22) November 4, 2015
Whatever the case may be, few expected the Lightning to begin 2015-16 with a middling 6-6-2 record.
One way or another, Cooper & Co. need to start looking for answers.
Cooper postgame: "These guys are working. The puck's not going in right now. That's new for us." #TBLightning
— Bryan Burns (@BBurnsNHL) November 4, 2015