Bolts HC Jon Cooper doesn't mince his words after Tampa Bay Lightning squander 3-0 lead in thrilling OT loss to Blue Jackets

By Abhilasha Aditi

Modified Nov 22, 2024 05:06 GMT

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was direct after the Bolts' 7-6 overtime loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. The Lightning got off to a strong start, leading 3-0 in the first period, but lost their momentum as the game went on.

Cooper addressed the team's mistakes and missed chances after the game.

"We played the game in quicksand tonight," he said. "We capitalized on our chances early on. You take so many good things from our last few games coming out of the break. There’s a recipe for what we need to do and, tonight, we didn’t follow it."

Tampa Bay took an early 3-0 lead with goals from Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel, and Cam Atkinson, who scored his first goal for the team.

However, Columbus responded with six goals in the second period. Kent Johnson scored a power-play goal and later added a shorthanded goal in the third.

Cooper emphasized the need to prevent easy goals, such as the breakaways they allowed. He also gave credit to Columbus for staying confident, even when they were down 3-0.

"Give a ton of credit to Columbus. They didn’t care they were down 3-0," Cooper said. "They were like, 'This is a 60-minute game. We’ll see what we can do to win this.'"

Nikita Kucherov recorded three assists in the loss to reach 900 career points. Gage Goncalves earned his first NHL point, assisting on Conor Geekie’s game-tying goal in the third period. Despite these achievements, the Blue Jackets came out on top, with Zach Werenski scoring the overtime winner.

Cooper was frustrated by the loss, especially after a strong start. He noted that, despite earning points in five straight games, the Tampa Bay Lightning couldn’t afford to let their guard down.

"Clearly, we didn’t have that same mindset and, in the end, probably the right team won tonight," he added.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will now focus on their next game against the Dallas Stars on Saturday.

Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets combine for crazy six-minute span in second period

The second period of the Lightning-Blue Jackets game was simply sensational as six goals flew in within a six-minute span.

NHL PR noted that the 5:50 time it took the two teams to reach six goals was the ninth-quickest in the league since the 2010-11 season.

Moreover, the game became the fifth in the past decade to combine for 10 or more goals before the halfway point of regulation.