Lightning get back to ‘winning battles’ to bounce back from opening loss

TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning felt and looked more like themselves Saturday.

A dominant first period set the tone for the Lightning in a 3-1 victory against the Washington Capitals at Benchmark International Arena that felt like an identity check. Even if it was only the second game of the season.

“What you saw tonight is what we expect,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said.

Cooper expressed displeasure with the Lightning’s effort in a 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers in their season opener at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, particularly with their, “lack of pushback.” In response, Tampa Bay pushed hard from the start against Washington.

Feeding off the energy of the crowd in their home opener, the Lightning jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals from Charle-Edouard D'Astous and Conor Geekie and built lopsided advantages in shots on goal (14-5), shot attempts (25-12) and face-offs (12-2) through the first 20 minutes.

“I thought there was just compete,” said forward Brandon Hagel, who had two assists. “I think that's something maybe we thought was missing last game. I didn't think anything last game had to do with structure-wise or that stuff. I think it was just compete and battle wins. We came out here, competed in the face-off dot, competed all over the ice, in the D zone.

“I think maybe we could have deserved a few more goals, but we stuck with it and were able to grind one out.”

Cooper had faith that his mostly veteran group of players would rebound from the disappointment against the Rangers. But after a day off on Friday, he and his staff also provided some reminders in a meeting before the morning skate Saturday of what needed to improve.

“Our job is to put a thumb on them a little bit, and they responded,” Cooper said. “I’m never sitting here saying two games is adversity, but you learn a little bit about your team, and we learned some tonight.”

Maybe it helped that the Capitals played the previous night, defeating the reigning Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes 5-2 in their season opener. But the Lightning also put in the effort needed to take advantage of that.

And after Washington pushed back in the second period, getting a redirection goal from Justin Sourdif at 7:04 to cut its deficit to 2-1, Tampa Bay’s determination did not waver.

Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s top goalie last season, did his part by making 19 saves, including one with his right pad to stop Tom Wilson’s bid for a tying power-play goal at 10:50 of the third period. The Lightning also blocked 19 Capitals’ shot attempts, outhit them 30-24 and eventually were rewarded with Jake Guentzel’s clinching empty-net goal with 2:05 remaining.

“I think maybe we came out a little flat on Thursday, but that game was past us, and we weren't going to let it happen again,” said Geekie, whose goal from the right circle at 16:30 of the first period proved to be the game-winner. “I think every guy stepped up. (Emil Lilleberg) with the fight. (Victor Hedman) with the big block. I can go down the whole roster.

“So, I think everyone was great tonight.”

It was reminiscent of Tampa’s formula for success last season, when it finished second in the Atlantic Division with 106 points (50-26-6), three behind the Buffalo Sabres. Perhaps, the Lightning just needed an early season reminder of what happens when they stray from that approach.

“We kind of set that tone last year, and I think maybe we kind of got a got away from it earlier there,” Hagel said. “… It starts with the work ethic. It starts with things clicking the right way.”

If not for Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren, who made 27 saves, the Lightning’s victory likely would have been more decisive. Their power play couldn’t convert on three opportunities and is now 0-for-10 on the season, but they feel it deserved better results.

“The power play was outstanding,” Cooper said. “There's games when power play can go 3-for-4 and you're like, ‘Wow, that was surprising.’ Then, there’s games, like we go 0-for-3 tonight, and you’re like, ‘I can’t believe it didn’t go in.’ So, sometimes it just happens that way.”

With skilled offensive players such as Guentzel, Hagel, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov, who won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player last season, it seems to be only a matter of time before the power play starts producing goals. The Lightning learned that they need to maintain the level of effort that was there Saturday, though.

“Really what comes down to is winning battles, and we did that tonight,” Cooper said. “We won a ton of them.”