Since the beginning of the campaign, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been hit by a perfect storm.
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John Cooper's men suffered their sixth loss in their first seven games on Thursday night against the Chicago Blackhawks. Nothing could dispel the clouds that had darkened the team; the defeat was suffered in the last minutes of the third period after a comedy of errors.
Veteran Nikita Kucherov was the first to blame for an unusual coup near the opponent's blue line. Thanks to a skillful spear strike, Teuvo Teravainen managed to take the disc away from him and resume the attack.
The Lightning then seemed disorganized during their defensive retreat, allowing the Hawks to create a two-on-one situation. Frank Nazar took a shot that Andrei Vasilevskiy managed to block, but the return shot went straight to the stick of Ryan Donato, who wasn't asking for much. The Blackhawks' No. 8 pushed the puck into the gaping cage for his second goal of the game, but most of all, the goal that made the difference. WATCH IN THE MAIN VIDEO
A sign of the Lightning's lack of success early in the campaign was Vasilevskiy's first career loss to Chicago in 14 starts.
The team currently languishes at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with just four points thanks to a 1-4-2 record.
Don't panic, but…
What will be the staff's reaction to the team's poor performance? General manager Julien Brisebois has every chance not to panic, but time could be against him if his training continues to stall.
Offensively, head coach John Cooper is currently using Gage Gonsalves, a player who has just 23 points in 69 NHL games, in his second lineup. Depth also leaves a lot to be desired, with Mitchell Chaffee, Curtis Douglas and Dominic James part of the rotation up front.
However, Brisebois will have to get creative if he wants to get a deal done, as he has already traded his 2026 and 2027 first-round picks. He may have no choice to wait until next month's scheduled return of Nick Paul, who missed the start of the season due to upper-body surgery.
Let us remind you that the Lightning have not missed the playoffs since the 2016-2017 season. Over the past eight spring tournaments, he has won two Stanley Cup titles and reached the finals. However, for three years in a row the team suffered defeat in the first round.
