Notebook: Bolts take off day to learn from mistakes in Game 1 loss

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper has stressed throughout his team's postseason run the importance of having a short memory, not dwelling on mistakes from previous games and moving on to the challenge in front instead of fretting over missed opportunities in the past.
"Turn the page and move on," Cooper said following Tampa Bay's 4-1 loss to Dallas in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final Saturday night, an oft-repeated motto for him in the 2020 Playoffs.
But it's important to learn from mistakes too so they aren't repeated.

The Lightning certainly had plenty of errors in Game 1 they can dissect over video review sessions during Sunday's off day and heading into Monday's Game 2, the most glaring coming on Dallas' opening goal when Zach Bogosian went to defend Brayden Point on a hit rather than pursuing the puck handler behind the net and the Lightning were caught out of position as a result. A lot of the Bolts' errors in Game 1 were self-inflicted, giving the Lightning hope if they play a cleaner game their next time out, they should have considerably more success.
"Guys have learned from their mistakes," Cooper said. "And in some of these games we've lost, we felt we were our own worst enemy in those games. And so when you look at these and sit here and say, 'Holy cow, were we ever dominated and we did everything we could and they still rolled over us,' games we've lost we haven't felt that way. We felt that we've made some errors and the other team capitalized on them. And that's what happens in the best league in the world, that's what's going to happen. We look at it, we move forward. The group's dialed in, so I expect a better effort tomorrow."

Lightning forward Blake Coleman, who provided the primary assist on Tampa Bay's lone goal in Game 1, said his team came out "tentative" and "sluggish" which fed into their "sloppy" play. He expects the Lightning to play with more of the urgency it displayed in the third period when it outshot the Stars 22-2 and had Dallas goalie Anton Khudobin under constant pressure for the entire 20 minute session.
"I think short memory is more about the way we came out as far as our energy and our execution," Coleman said. "We all know we're capable of playing better and executing passes and playing a skating game much more so than we did in Game 1. I think that's where the short memory comes into play. I think there's not going to be a shortage of studying film and learning the team's tendencies that we're playing against. We have a great staff that dissects the game really well, and we'll start getting into that today and obviously into tomorrow…It's one game, but we've learned a lot about our opponent already. Now we know what to expect and what we're in for, and I expect this to be a long and hard-fought series."
STAMKOS CLOSE TO A RETURN? Lightning captain Steven Stamkos continues to practice with his team in an effort to return at some point during the Stanley Cup Final.
Stamkos has yet to play this postseason and hasn't played since February 25. He had surgery March 2 to repair a core muscle injury.
Cooper said it's unlikely Stamkos will be able to play in Monday's Game 2 but didn't completely dismiss the idea either.
"I guess there's always a chance, but as of now I don't think so," Cooper said. "That's why you've got to tune in to find out."
Cooper said Stamkos has been "everything we've expected" as far as the leader of the team during this postseason while he's remained out.
"I know it's killing him more than anyone else not to be in the lineup," Cooper said. "He's inching his way closer, there's no doubt. But you don't get this many chances to be where we are and you want to be a part of it, which he has and he's collectively helped the whole group in the mental side of things. But he also wants to be a part of it on the ice as well. He's fighting his way to get back. Not exactly sure when that's going to be. We're hopeful, as (Lightning GM) Julien (BriseBois) said the other day, he'll be able to come back at some point in the series, but there's now way right now we can tag that."
Stamkos scored 29 goals and recorded 66 points during the 2019-20 regular season, ranking second on the Lightning in both categories. He led the Bolts for power-play goals (10), and perhaps no area on the Lightning has felt his absence more than the power play, which is connecting at a 17 percent clip in the 2020 Playoffs but has netted six of its 10 power-play goals in just two contests.
The Lightning have gone without a power-play goal in 14 of their 20 games this postseason.
Cooper was asked if there was a thought to activate Stamkos just to have him available on the power play, his one-timer from the left circle a threat the Lightning have been sorely missing.
"There's no way you would put a player into a game when you have limited roster spots just to play a specialized position," Cooper said. "Not at this time of the year and especially you get bumps and bruises on guys, you need guys to be able to contribute. And so, he wouldn't want that either. I don't think anybody wants to go into a game when you have to sit on the bench the whole time. If you're going to get in the lineup, you have to be in a position that you're ready to play and play minutes and contribute."
HEDMAN, VASILEVSKIY UP FOR AWARDS: The NHL will announce the winners of the five-remaining regular season trophies Monday at 6:30 p.m. prior to Game 2.
The Lightning have two players up for those awards: Victor Hedman is a finalist for the Norris Trophy and Andrei Vasilevskiy is up for the Vezina Trophy.
Hedman has been a Norris finalist four consecutive seasons and is the first defenseman to do so since fellow Swede Nicklas Lidstrom won three-straight Norris trophies from 2006-08 and finished third in voting in 2009.
Hedman is the only Lightning player ever to win the Norris when he captured the 2018 trophy.
Vasilevskiy has been named a finalist for the Vezina the last three seasons. He's the reigning Vezina Trophy holder, having captured the award in 2019 after posting a 39-10-4 record with a .925 save percentage and 2.40 goals-against average in leading the Lightning to a NHL record-tying 62-win regular season.
He's the only Vezina winner in Tampa Bay franchise history.
"It's one of those things you don't truly appreciate somebody's talent until they're doing it in front of you night in and night out," Coleman said when asked what it's like to play with Hedman and Vasilevskiy after playing against them for a number of years. "Both those guys are extremely consistent, extremely competitive. They both want to win. It's the way they're built. They definitely drive the team. When those two are on their game, the team is typically on their game. They're the engine of this team right now. They've been really good for us during these playoffs and a big reason why we're here. But I think the biggest thing for me is just seeing how consistent they are in their effort and how well they play each night."
THE HIT PARADE: Tampa Bay dished out 56 hits in Game 1 versus Dallas, tied for the most its recorded all-time in a playoff game.
The Lightning also posted 56 hits in Game 6 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, a contest Chicago won 2-0 to close out the series and lift the Cup.
Dallas didn't back down from the physicality either, delivering 50 hits of their own.

Coleman said he expects the remainder of the series to be physical too. The ice in Edmonton is slower than in Toronto, he said, which makes it more likely teams will put pucks behind defensemen and finish their checks to retrieve pucks in the offensive zone.
"Yeah, I think that's part of their identity and obviously that's become a part of Tampa's identity as well here. I imagine it'll stay physical," Coleman said. "I don't know if there will be over 100 every night. The first few games of series there's typically a lot of tone setting and guys making a point to finish their hits and wear the other team down. I'm sure it'll continue here for a little bit. We've got a ton of guys that play a physical game, so it's something that we're comfortable with."
BOUNCE-BACK EFFORT: Tampa Bay has yet to lose this postseason following a loss, going 5-0 in bounce-back games. The only other time a Lightning playoff team didn't suffer back-to-back losses came during the 2004 Stanley Cup season.
That championship squad went 7-0 in games following a loss.
The Lightning expect a much better effort from themselves in Game 2. Part of that is desperation to not fall behind 2-0 in the series but another part is wanting to prove Game 1 was an aberration and not indicative of the kind of team they have.
"I think everybody on our team will tell you Game 1 is not, nobody's proud of the way we played," Coleman said. "We have a very proud group. I expect every guy to look in the mirror and bounce back and play better than they did in Game 1. When we have four lines going and all our D rolling, we're a hard team to contain for anybody in this league. I think we kind of sat back and felt our way into the series. I would expect us to take the fight to them moving forward. I think part of that is game plan and the other part of that is us executing it. I'm excited to see the response from the boys."