Cooper was asked by the media Thursday what's surprised him most about Colton's play early in his NHL career.
"Probably his compete, his grittiness, I've liked that about him," Cooper responded. "He's greasy in a good way. He's getting a piece of opponents. He's getting in their way. And then the other part is probably he's got a better knack around the net than I probably gave him credit for. To be able to do it in the minors is one thing but to be able to do it up here in the NHL is another. It's a tiny sample size, but he's proven he can score here."
To facilitate the elevation of the rookies, Tyler Johnson and Mathieu Joseph were moved down to the fourth line during morning skate. The Barclay Goodrow-Yanni Gourde-Blake Coleman trio remains intact.
Tampa Bay suffered its worst loss of the season when it was embarrassed 7-2 by Nashville on Tuesday, the Lightning setting season lows for most goals allowed and largest margin of defeat.
Following the loss, Ryan McDonagh said it was one of the worst performances the team has had while he's been in a Lightning uniform.
On Thursday, Victor Hedman echoed that sentiment. He said it's the job of the leadership group, beginning with himself, to make sure a loss like that doesn't happen again and the Lightning get back to the way they know they can play with just 14 games remaining in the regular season and first place in the Central Division still up for grabs.
"We lost a lot of games, and that's not what we are as a group," Hedman said. "It starts with me. I've got to be better and lead the way. Things go up and down during the season, we know that. Same goes for individual players. You're going to have these stretches where stuff maybe doesn't go your way. We've just got to work through it and come out the other side a better player. What's good about this league is that there's new games every other day, so you get a chance to do better."
The Lightning play two games against Florida before opening a back-to-back set versus Carolina Monday. All three teams - Tampa Bay, Florida and Carolina - are tied atop the Central Division standings with 58 points, although the Hurricanes own the tiebreaker having played one less game than the Lightning and two fewer games than the Panthers.
How the Bolts come out of these next four games will go a long way in determining their eventual finish in the Central.
"They're big games, for sure," Hedman said. "We can't look too far ahead. We've got to narrow down our game. We've just got to take it game by game. There's not a whole lot left in the regular season, so we want to get our game back on track and it starts tonight. We're not looking forward to anything after that."
