Lightning's Cooper: 'Time is now' to climb into playoff picture
The Tampa Bay Lightning can't afford to rest on any laurels.
Jon Cooper's club entered the season with high expectations, but sits outside the NHL playoff picture after 41 games. Losers of three straight after picking up points in five of six games around the holiday break, the head coach knows the Lightning can ill afford to let opportunities to climb the standings go to waste.
"We’re scrambling to find our way back into the mix, which we did over the break," Cooper said Saturday, per Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider. "And now in one short week, we’re right back where we started with a back-to-back coming tomorrow and then a six-gamer on the road. The time is now, that’s it."
The Lightning miss Steven Stamkos and Ben Bishop, but possess an enviable level of depth to withstand injuries to star players. Cooper, then, lamented not what's missing in terms of personnel, but rather a lack of passion following Saturday's loss to Philadelphia.
After Sunday's game against Pittsburgh, who Tampa Bay pushed to seven games in the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals, the Lightning host Columbus and Buffalo on consecutive nights before heading on a lengthy road trip, both in terms of time and mileage.
The six-game excursion includes stops in Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose, Arizona, Chicago, and Florida.
Failing to pick up some points over that stretch could put a supposed Cup contender on the outside looking in come playoff time.