The Tampa Bay Lightning lost their first home opener in seven years at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2. Cirelli and Killorn scored, but Jon Cooper made it pretty clear the whole team lacked any sort of work-ethic or motivation and that was the reason they lost, not skill or lineup decisions.
“Early (and I mean early) signs show that the Lightning still doesn’t really know how to replace Yanni Gourde’s impact. The match-up workload was always going to increase for Tampa’s top six, but they struggled this evening. There were flashes of control and the normal Lightning dominance, but far too often they were pinned in the defensive zone chasing the Penguins.