Not too many weeks ago, a defenseman for the Tampa Bay Lighting’s lamented a loss to the New York Rangers as a team “with nothing to lose”.
Funny how the hockey gods toy with the run of the mill defensemen in hockey.
A few weeks later, the Lightning find themselves looking up at the Rangers and losing to another team with “nothing to lose” in the Minnesota Wild.
On Thursday night, former Ranger and current Wild forward, Mats Zuccarello potted the game-winner late in the third period in a 5-4 decision over the Bolts.
“He’s putting them in right now,” the Wild’s Jason Zucker said. “Obviously he’s known to be a playmaker, but he’s proving he can score goals.”
Alex Stalock made 30 saves in the win.
“We need to find ways to win games and right now we are finding ways to lose them,” Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “It’s not something our group is satisfied with at all, and we understand, we are looking at things and we are trying to improve here. We have to continue to battle and try to play close to a consistent 60-minute game.”
Zuccarello’s game-winner came just eight seconds after Alex Killorn had tied the game at 4-4.
“We had a couple of those today,” Zuccarello said. “It was important, you know. They were coming hard and we managed to get it back from them. It was great.”
Victor Hedman, Erik Cernak and Mikhail Sergachev also scored for the Lightning.
“We had a pretty good start, then they scored those three goals and after that everything was harder,” Cernak said. “We starting chasing those two goals, we tied it up and then made mistakes and they scored.”
Joel Eriksson Ek, Zucker, Carson Soucy, and Victor Rask also scored for the Wild.
“We just did a good job of sticking with it and taking chances when we can,” Soucy said. “They’re a high-powered offense. We knew they were going to score … and we took it upon ourselves to meet their push every time they kind of had one.”
[WATCH: All Wild vs. Lightning highlights]
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 16 saves in the loss.
“The pride we’re taking in our [defensive] zone is unacceptable right now,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “We’ve thrown some good games together of late here where we’ve played pretty well. But giving up goals like this, in this league, you’ve got no chance.”
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