So you rid yourself of a successful coach and take a chance on your AHL head coach and the players on the ice? They continue to lay plunkies across the surface.
This time it was in Tampa as the Chicago Blackhawks surrendered four goals in the first period, two by Tyler Johnson, in a 4-2 loss to the Lighting.
“We got off to a really good start,” Johnson said. “When you get the lead early, it makes it a little bit easier to play the rest of the game. We felt good the way we were playing and kept on going.”
Brayden Point and Ryan Callahan also scored for the Bolts.
“They were tough to handle,” Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith said. “They came out hard. They’ve done that several times this season. We needed to be better. We definitely played better as the game went on.”
Louis Domingue made 30 saves for the win.
Artem Anisimov and Jonathan Toews had the Hawks goal in the loss.
“[The Lightning] are really great in their building, and they are going to make plays if you give them time and space,” Toews said. “We kept leaving guys wide open in the slot, and they don’t make mistakes when you do that.”
Chicago dropped to 8-10-5.
“We weren’t as sharp as we needed to be on the first shift, and we dug ourselves a hole,” Chicago coach Jeremy Colliton said. “I thought Corey gave us a chance to crawl back in the game and make it a game, but you can’t chase it and expect to win.”
Tampa improved to 16-6-1.
“The last 11 minutes of the game we were short for seven of them with the two penalties and the last three with their goalie pulled. So it’s tough when you are killing that much, and I thought the boys weathered the storm. That was obviously their biggest push of the game right there,” Bolts head coach Jon Cooper said after the game.
[WATCH: All Blackhawks vs. Lightning highlights]
Corey Crawford made 25 saves in the loss.
“I think the whole group was off in the first period. It seemed like shift after shift we were giving them space. There were mismatches, whether it was off the rush or in the defensive zone. I understand there’s a transition between how they played in the past and how we’re going to play now. But we’ve shown we can do it,” Colliton said.
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