Lightning suffer rare off night at home in loss to Blue Jackets
TAMPA, Fla. -- There on the ice where so much success has been enjoyed this season, the Tampa Bay Lightning suffered from a series of uncommon errors.
Goaltender Ben Bishop, who entered Saturday tied for second in the NHL in wins with 16, watched three pucks slip behind his back against the scrappy Columbus Blue Jackets, two of which bounced off his own teammates (Radko Gudas and Nikita Kucherov). A swarming offense, which began as the NHL's most lethal with 96 goals, was stifled by goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who looked like a Vezina Trophy-caliber threat in net with 33 saves. A home-ice advantage, so central to Tampa Bay's climb to the top of the Eastern Conference, was rendered irrelevant as the Lightning dropped their first game at Amalie Arena since losing to the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 13.
"It was just one of those nights where bounces didn't go our way," Bishop said after his team's 3-1 defeat. "They got a couple goals off our players. Pucks were bouncing over our sticks. Every now and then, those are going to happen. We just can't let it creep into our game."
Saturday's result was notable in the sense that, fortunately for the Lightning, it was so strange. Aside from a 7-2 blowout by the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 25 and 5-2 routs by the New York Islanders on Nov. 18 and Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 20, Tampa Bay has kept off nights to a minimum, especially at home.
It's impossible to remain spotless in an 82-game grind. Even the league's strongest home teams suffer forgettable blemishes in their buildings on occasion. Exceptions to the rule are bound to happen because opponents are paid good money to compete too.
So the result Saturday was a reflection of how poorly Tampa Bay played, yes, but it was also telling of how good the Lightning had become at defending their home ice before the odd sight. An 11-2-1 record at Amalie Arena before Columbus came to town doesn't happen by accident. An 11-2-1 record at Amalie Arena is more indicative of the Lightning's potential than a night when a late goal by Ondrej Palat kept Tampa Bay from being shut out at home for the first time since Nov. 29, 2013, against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"There are no easy games in this league," Lightning center Steven Stamkos said. "They competed, and they played hard. We competed as well. We just didn't do the proper things and execute the right things in order to succeed tonight."
It wasn't for a lack of trying. Especially in the first two periods, the Lightning brought waves of threats against Bobrovsky, only to see the nimble Russian deflect them as if he were a brick wall. By the second period's end, Tampa Bay had outshot Columbus 26-13.
Of course, nights like Saturday can't happen often if the Lightning want to achieve all they envision. Bobrovsky was stellar, but they didn't create enough traffic in front of him to earn those messy goals that are sometimes necessary to survive. Columbus' defense did well to stifle Tampa Bay when the Lightning tried to dump the puck deep into the zone.
Tampa Bay failed to reach the right areas to answer Columbus' inspired play. The Blue Jackets earned the two points they deserved.
"Are we supposed to beat every single team every single night?" Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.
The answer is no. Yet this is where the Lightning find themselves as more points are earned and more victories are achieved: Their bar keeps rising, the development a responsibility as much as it's a compliment, and it's their duty to answer the call.
This is part of life as a contender, because expectations come with the territory in a climb toward the top. Expectations to play to an elite standard, at home and away. Expectations to keep a strong offense humming. Expectations to keep the anomalies to a minimum.
"It's tough," Lightning winger Ryan Callahan said. "You want to win games at home. It's something we've done throughout the year. We've been good at home. I think we have a four-game homestand here before we hit the road, so these points are big. When you don't get them, it's obviously disappointing."
Saturday was a rare disappointment for Tampa Bay, especially at a site where so many good memories were formed in the season's first two months.
The night ended with an understanding that hiccups happen, the breaks from the norm inevitable, with no reason for alarm as long as the old winning form returns soon.
You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.
