AMALIE Arena hosted its first shootout finish of the 2024-25 NHL season on Thursday.
Despite an NHL-best 11th goal of the season from Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov and 29 saves from goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, the visiting Philadelphia Flyers left with a 2-1 victory.
The shootout loss is the first in extra time for the Lightning this season and fourth loss in a row. Tama Bay falls to 7-6-1 and is in third place in the Atlantic Division after Thursday.
“I think the big issue with us, especially of late, is we’re overcomplicating an uncomplicated game,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said postgame. “I think we’re a bottom five team in the league for shots on goal. It’s been the extra pass, the extra play, there’s something better out there, and it’s kind of sucked the life out of us. And what it does, it fuels the other team.”
The Eastern Conference opponents played an even first period with not much offense, as both sides shared seven shots on goal.
There wasn’t much of an attack from either bench until the NHL’s leader in goals stayed atop that leaderboard with a standout individual effort.
Kucherov gave home fans something to cheer about as the first period clock dwindled.
Kucherov gathered the puck in his own end, skating the length of the ice before a cutback move at the Philadelphia blueline spun Flyers defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen around. Kucherov carried the puck behind the left side of the net before wrapping the puck inside the right post for his 11th goal of the year with 44.7 seconds left in the first period.
The Flyers opened the second period with a strong push, but the Lightning responded with pace and extended offensive zone time. Neither side scored in a middle frame that ended with a combined 24 shots on goal.
In period three, the Flyers doubled Tampa Bay in shots, 8-4, and got the tying goal late.
Philadelphia forward Owen Tippett drove the puck through the Lightning defensive zone, getting to the left faceoff circle before tying the game with a top-shelf backhand shot with 4:16 left in regulation.
“You’ve got to be a pro about it,” defenseman Ryan McDonagh said of losing the first game back home after three straight losses on the road. “Take care of yourself, rest, recover and show up ready to win and play winning hockey, and we haven't done that. We’ve found ways to lose games. Up 1-0 going into the third, that’s got to be a dial-it-in time. And we’ve let some slip away, let some points slip away here. We’ve got to get back to closing games out and finding a way to get two points.”
Neither team scored in overtime, and the Flyers took the extra standings point thanks to shootout goals by Travis Konecny and Tippett.
Philadelphia outshot the Lightning 31-23 overall. Multiple members of the Tampa Bay locker room hope to see a simpler attack to break the four-game skid.
Forward Brandon Hagel finished with an assist on Thursday, but he said the Lightning can be better.
“Maybe we could just do a little bit better job executing and maybe kind of being a little smarter, myself included,” Hagel said. “I think maybe shooting the puck, getting the puck to the net a little bit more. ...Maybe if we just simplify our game a little bit.”
The good news for the Lightning is they now enter a six-day break with no games. Tampa Bay’s next game will be played at AMALIE Arena on Nov. 14, a rematch with the Winnipeg Jets—a team that beat the Lightning 7-4 last Sunday.
With time to focus on practice, the team hopes to get back to its winning ways that helped them start the year 7-3-0.
“We’re leaving points out there. Unfortunately you can't get them back, and you’re hoping that tide will turn,” Cooper said postgame. “We’ve felt we’ve played pretty good this year. We’ve left some games that we haven't got points, we’re like, ‘Wow, we should have.’
“So that’s actually a good sign. Now the fact you’re not getting points is tough, but eventually you will because we have a bunch of great guys in that room, and they’re proud guys. So we’ll come out of this.”
Benjamin’s Three Stars:
- Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (29 saves)
- Owen Tippett, PHI (Goal, Shootout Winner)
- Nikita Kucherov, TBL (Goal)
