Slumping Lightning in need of some changes?

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
December, 11, 2016

TAMPA, Fla. – The sense of frustration is starting to mount. It’s not hard to notice as the Lightning’s losing ways continue an antagonizing trend.

Tampa Bay has one win in the past eight games. They have not won a regulation game since a third-period rally to knock off Philadelphia on Nov. 23, the day before Thanksgiving. That’s more than two weeks without a victory (the lone win in that span came in a shootout against Washington).

Teams go through tough stretches in any season. Few teams are immune from enduring extended parts of the schedule where results are just not coming.

The Lightning are in the middle of one right now. But it cannot go on much longer. Whatever leaks are dragging down the ship must be plugged – soon.
Otherwise the season is going to go down in a disaster.

But we are not there quite yet, the season is not lost.

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“Teams do go through these situations and you have to weather through. You just have to keep fighting through,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said after Saturday’s 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh. “It’s 82 games . . . and it’s after 82, not after right now. There is a lot of hockey left to be played.’’

Yes, there is a lot of hockey still to be played. Of the 82, the Lightning have completed 35-percent of their schedule and there are a lot of home games left for Tampa Bay. And to put where they sit right now in a bit of perspective, on Dec. 10 of last season the Lightning record was 14-12-3 and Tampa Bay sat in 11th place in the Eastern Conference. This year, on the same date, they are 14-13-2 and sit in ninth place (tied with New Jersey and Florida) in the conference.

But sometimes it’s about why a team is where they sit in the standings. And this year, it just feels different than last season. The struggles last year came from a lack of consistent scoring as Tampa Bay had 70 goals scored, they have scored 79 this season. Not a huge difference.

The biggest difference comes in keeping pucks out of their net. Through 29 games last year the Lightning allowed 66 goals; this year they have allowed 81 and that’s an alarming trend. During the current eight game stretch, Tampa Bay has allowed four or more goals six times.

“You can’t win in this league if you are going to give up four or five a night,’’ Cooper said. “That’s the tough thing, we are giving up four or five a night and that’s tough to win games when that happens.’’

So there is a growing push for something to change, a shake-up of some sort.

Major change? Not likely.
Minor changes? More realistic.
Trade looming? It seems there is a need to shore up the defense, but to what extent can changes be made?

In speaking to a few people around the building, Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman was visibly upset during Thursday’s loss to Vancouver and left his spot in the press box by the end of the second period and headed straight for the locker room area, presumably for the coach’s office (he rarely spends any amount of time in the players’ areas).

But along those lines, I’ll say this: Yzerman has been and always will be a patient and prudent manager, he doesn’t make rash decisions. He analyzes situations and when he feels the time is right to make a move, he acts.

Recent history suggests that doesn’t happen before Christmas. Of course, Tampa Bay has not had a season like this under Jon Cooper where the team has just one win in eight games and is giving up goals at an alarming rate.

So heading in to the week the Lightning have six games remaining before Christmas, starting with a three-game road trip to Western Canada that begins Wednesday in Calgary, a team that has won six consecutive games and has points in seven in a row.

With the holiday roster freeze going in to effect on Dec. 19, that leaves three games for Tampa Bay between now and then.

Here’s my hunch, though there is a three-day gap before the Lightning play in Calgary, I don’t expect anything major to take place. Just like last year, this group and this coaching staff has earned the right to work things out during rough patches.

But the leash is shorter than last year.

Could there be a move regarding a call up or two from Syracuse? It’s a distinct possibility and makes the most sense at this point.

But moving forward, if there are no signs of things turning around, Yzerman will have to do something more than that to snap this team back on the right path. There’s too much at stake.

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