That trio developed instant chemistry together, so much so that when head coach Jon Cooper juggled his lines before Tuesday's game in Pittsburgh to create a spark for a moribund offense, he kept the third line intact.
The Lightning offense has since clicked, scoring five goals in back-to-back victories. The Bolts are searching for their first three-game win streak this season when they host the Washington Capitals at AMALIE Arena tonight (7 p.m. puck drop).
The offense isn't happening for the third line just yet.
But it's coming.
"I think as a line, me, Perry and Patty have been playing really well," Colton said. "Coop's kind of been stressing that to us to keep playing our game. I think we play a heavy game. For most of the time, we're in the offensive zone below the dots and creating chances. I just think right now we're not getting the bounces. I think if we just stick with it, the bounces are going to come. But I don't think we want to change our game too much."
For a player like Colton, the scoring drought could be particularly frustrating. He scored eight goals in his first 17 NHL games when he made his League debut last season. At times, goals almost came too easy for him.
Now, the scoring has dried up, which could make a player who's still technically considered a rookie in the league start pressing. Heck, it couldn't make any player press, no matter their status.
That hasn't been the case with Colton, however, partly because he has experienced veterans on his wings constantly in his ear.
"He's continuing to grow," Perry said of Colton. "He's a younger guy, and he takes everything in. He asks a lot of questions. We talk to him quite a bit. It takes a while in this league to figure it out. You have to grow each and every day, and he's been doing that."
Colton said Perry is quick to talk to him on the bench while reviewing the previous shift on an iPad or doing intermission breaks, letting him know things he's doing well, areas where they can improve as a line, maybe a situation he's seen before in his 1,100-plus NHL games that can apply to something that's happening on the ice.
Colton absorbs that information like a sponge.
"He likes to coach us younger guys whether it's in the locker room, maybe not so much on the bench because I think he's worried about going out there and producing on the next shift and what not but when we come in the locker room maybe between periods he's not afraid to come over and tap me on the shin guards and say, 'Hey, maybe let's try this next shift,'" Colton said of Perry. "We're always looking at the iPad on the bench and kind of going with it on the fly and kind of try to adjust to what other teams are doing, what the D-men are doing. He's the first guy to say, 'Hey, take a look at this. Let's do that next time.' It goes a long way coming from a guy like him."
Perry and Maroon have built-in chemistry this season have played together while both were in Anaheim. Maroon and Colton instantly clicked last season and were part of a Lightning fourth line that was impactful throughout the team's run to a second-straight Stanley Cup.
The three together have been a revelation early in the season for the Lightning, a line that doesn't look like it's going anywhere anytime soon as they continue to do a lot of good things on the ice together.
Now, it's just a matter of getting rewarded for their effort.
"There have been chances," Perry said. "It could be frustrating, but you look at it, if you're getting chances, you're doing the right thing."
Pregame Sound
