Our Bolts got absolutely humbled last night, and it’s a tough pill to swallow this morning, even with my café con leche. The Tampa Bay Lightning dropped a rough 6-2 decision to the Ottawa Senators on the road. We were tied up heading into the third period, feeling like we had a real shot after Nick Paul and Corey Perry punched back in the second. But then, Ottawa just exploded on us, scoring four unanswered goals in the final frame. It was a really hard watch for us here in Tampa.
Honestly, the Senators just wanted it more in that third period. Jacob Spence got them on the board late in the second, but our guys answered quick. Then in the third, Frederik Zetterlund and Jakob Sanderson ripped two past us in under two minutes, and the wheels just fell off the cart. Our guys, like Nikita Kucherov, were trying to make things happen, but the power plays for Ottawa, with Tim Stützle and Sanderson scoring back-to-back, just sealed our fate. You could feel the air leave the building, even all the way back here.
This loss doesn't change our standing much – we're still first in the Atlantic at 48-24-6. But it’s a wake-up call, a reminder that we can’t take any shifts off, no matter who the opponent is. We've got to tighten up, especially with only a few games left before the playoffs. The vibe in Tampa this morning is a bit somber, like a quiet Sunday on Bayshore Boulevard, but we know what this team is capable of. We’ve seen them do it before. We just need to shake this off and get back to being the Tampa Bay Lightning we know.
This is Cassie Morales from Ybor City — Be the Thunder, Bolts Nation. The crew on the morning show is digging into this right now — catch them at mornings.live.