Tampa Bay's fading playoff hopes may have finally made a disappearing act.
Already considered a long shot to make the postseason sitting in 12th place in the Eastern Conference standings and eight points out of the eighth spot, the Lightning looked lifeless in a 4-0 loss to Ottawa on Tuesday. The loss dropped Tampa Bay into 13th place in the conference and the team is just one point ahead of 15th-place Carolina.
Tampa Bay used a 7-1-1 stretch to get back into the playoff conversation after starting January on a seven-game winless stretch. But with just one victory in the past five games, and the number of games remaining dwindling each day, reaching the postseason for a second consecutive season seems to be a stretch.
"We know how important these games are and for (Tuesday's) game to be 1-0 for as long as it was, it just seems that it's right there," captain Vinny Lecavalier said.
Tampa Bay still has plenty of home games remaining, including Thursday against San Jose in the second of a four-game homestand, but time is running out.
"It's disappointing but we believe in what we can do; we are keeping our heads up," Lecavalier said. "We can't sit back and do nothing about it. We just have to turn the page and play solid. ... The next three home games are obviously very important.
