"Embarassing": Lightning HC Jon Cooper does not mince words after Tampa's 6-3 loss to Calgary Flames
The Tampa Bay Lightning suffered a 6-3 loss to the Calgary Flames on Thursday night at Amalie Arena. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper did not mince words when assessing his team's performance.
"Embarrassing. That's what it was," Cooper said bluntly in his postgame press conference.
"We have not played since last Saturday. They had time away from the rink, time together, a couple of practices. We couldn't have laid it out more perfect for them to come out and put on a great show for the fans and they did the complete opposite." Cooper added.
The game was tied 1-1 at the end of the first period. The Flames then scored three quick goals in just over three minutes during the second period and managed to keep the Lightning at bay for the rest of the game.
Conor Sheary, Anthony Cirelli and Michael Eyssimont found the back of the net for the Lightning. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 17 shots throughout the game.
"I think we gave up too much, too many opportunities to score," Sheary said.
"We came out in the first period a little slow from the little break we had and were just never able to recover fully. We have to have a short memory with so few games left. We have to move forward and get the next one."
Tampa Bay's recent loss at home brings their record to 1-4-1 in six games. The Lightning are currently 33-25-6 on the season and occupy the Atlantic Conference's wild card spot.
Jon Cooper's Lightning will next face the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday at Amalie Arena.
Flames' head coach Ryan Huska on 6-3 win over the Lightning
In the post-game interview, Ryan Huska shared his thoughts on the game with the Lightning.
“I liked our game. I thought we worked, I thought we were competitive and we were deserving of the win,” he said.
“To me, it's just work. I thought we were competitive, I thought we worked hard, and I thought we did a good job with our sticks in the detail of the game." Huska added.
The Flames (31-26-5) next face the Florida Panthers on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena.