Connor’s Curse: Lightning Struggle Against Ingram Again, Lose to Coyotes 3-1

By Michael Wax

The Lightning fell 3-1 to the Coyotes, losing both ends of their west coast back-to-back. Here's how they stacked up:

Hagel-Point-Kucherov

Stamkos-Cirelli-Eyssimont

Koepke-Paul-ABB

Motte-Glendening-Jeannot

Hedman-Perbix

Sergachev-Cernak

Fleury-Raddysh

Johansson

Here are our three biggest takeaways:

86

For a lot of this game, the Lightning looked pretty lethargic. After the performance ar altitude against the Colorado Avalanche just 24 hours prior, the Lightning were missing on a lot of their chances that they would normally capitalize on. Luckily, for them, they still had No. 86 ready to go.

Nikita Kucherov was far away the best player on the ice for the Lightning in this game, playing a season-high (TIME). In the first 40 minutes, he was trying everything under the sun to get the Bolts their first goal against Connor Ingram. With just under five minutes left to go in the second period, Victor Hedman found Kucherov on a really great outlet pass, before Kucherov and Brandon Hagel played pitch and catch at the blue line. Kucherov would take Hagel's return feed, glove it down, and glide in on the backhand to protect the park while simultaneously waiting for Brayden Point to charge the net. As he always does, Kucherov feathered a perfect tape-to-tape backhand pass to point to get the Bolts' first goal of the game.

Jo Jo Oh No

Most Lightning fans will admit that Jonas Johansson had done an admirable job filling in for Andrei Vasilevskiy during the later's time on the injured list. In his first starting role in the NHL, Johansson did enough to help the Lightning win games, and had a particularly hot stretch at the beginning of the season which included back-to-back shut outs. However, from that game till Vasilevskiy's return, Johansson saw a 4-3-3 record with a percentage of .871, and was allowing some pretty poor goals in some games. A lot of this was due to the defense in front of him, but there was no doubt that he was struggling.

During his first game this season as a pure backup, these struggles continued. Johansson stopped 21/24 Arizona shots, once again putting up a same percentage under .900. Both goals he allowed from Coyotes forward Michael Carcone our ones that he'd like to have back, with the first one being an innocent shot off the boards that Johanson was not in place for, and the second being a goal five hole with Johansson not utilizing his stick for a poke check in tight.

That's not to say he had a terrible game. Johansson did make some crucial saves when the game was 1-0 and again when it was 3-1, but these are the type of goals that really set your team back when they're struggling in the first place.

With Vasilevskiy back, the Lightning aren't going to call upon Johannson as much. But when they do, they're going to need him to look like he did at the beginning of the season.

Seen Stamkos?

Entering his contract year, Steven Stamkos made it well known that he has not been happy with the way that the lightning have handled this situation. A lot of people expected with these comments that we would see an invigorated captain looking to get back to the Stanley Cup finals and potentially put up his second 100 point season, but aside from a dominant power play presence, the Lightning have not gotten what they need out of their leader.

Stamkos currently has nine points at even strength, compared to 15 on the power play, and this game was an encapsulation of the struggles he's been having at even strength. With a golden opportunity on his stick to make it a 2-1 game in the second period, Stamkos completely missed on a wide open net. The frustration was palpable on his way back to the bench, and Stamkos really had a difficult time throughout the rest of the game chances at 5-on-5.

All of this frustration building up resulted in Stamkos, taking a penalty with three minutes left to go in the game, essentially dashing any Lightning hopes of a comeback.

It can't be overstated just how important Stamkos leadership is, as well as his play on the ice. But when things are not going right, as they have not done for the majority of the season at 5-on-5, the sense of frustration definitely seems to be brewing for the captain.