Whatever it is that is hampering the Tampa Bay Lightning in their 2022 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference finals series, head coach Jon Cooper will have to figure it out soon. The Lightning failed to score a win again in the series with a 3-2 loss Friday night at Madison Square Garden, which followed a stunning 6-2 loss in Game 1.
Cooper did not hold back about a key issue he saw in the Lightning in Game 2, calling the quality of his team's puck security “egregious.”
Via Joe Smith of The Athletic:
Article Continues BelowJon Cooper on their biggest issue: turnovers: “It was egregious what was happening, especially after the first five minutes of the first all the way to halfway through the second. That isn’t game plan. That isn’t what they’re doing. You’ve got to manage the puck.”
The Lightning struck first in Game 2 with a Nikita Kucherov goal around three minutes into the contest, but their lead did not last long, as the Rangers scored two unanswered goals before the end of the first period. Tampa Bay had more shots on goal than the Rangers in Game 2, but the Lightning did not have a lot of luck against New York goalie Igor Shesterkin.
Tampa Bay can turn things around beginning in Game 3 when the series goes to Amalie Arena for the Lightning's first home game of the series.