Lightning Shutout Again, Lose 6th Straight

The Lightning were shutout on the road by the Detroit Red Wings last night, 3-0.  It was the 6th straight loss for the Bolts, and their 10th loss in the last 11 games.  In that stretch we have been outscored 36 to 17 and been shutout 4 times.

I happened to think we played quite well for the first two periods last night, giving up a goal at the 8:24 mark to ex-Bolt (this season) Drew Miller.  We outshot the Wings 30 to 22 for the game, but as in most of our games lately, we were unable to get a puck between the pipes.  Steven Stamkos banged one off the post in the 2nd period that he should have buried and we have some real nice looks on a PP to end the 1st period.  Our inability to score goals lately is quite perplexing and we currently rank 2nd to last in the NHL in scoring at 2.35 goals per game.

The Bolts are in the middle of the pack team stats wise in just about every other category (GA/G, PK%, PP%, FO%) so if we could find a way to start getting some pucks in the net, we should be able to break out of this funk. Our payroll constraints probably are going to prohibit the Bolts from going out and making a move to acquire a top 6 forward, and there really isn’t any potential goal scoring in Norfolk to call up.   Even taking a look at the 50 point scorers in the league, there are only a few guys who could possibly be available, and they are all a little out of our league price range wise to make a move.

The highlight of the night as a Lightning fan was the open ice hit that Mattias Ohlund put on Henrik Zetterberg that apparently will shelve Zetterberg for at least two weeks.

I promised goal scoring video for the Bolts, but of course with another shutout in the books, I unfortunately have none to show you.  I will leave you with the hit on Zetterberg though, to try and cheer up your day.

@BoltsByTheBay [email protected]