TAMPA - The Tampa Bay Lightning will try to do something they haven鈥檛 managed all season in Game 2 鈥 stay out of the penalty box.
Head coach Jon Cooper called out his group鈥檚 鈥渟tupidity鈥 after costly penalties handed Canadiens winger Juraj Slafkovsky three power-play goals 鈥 including the overtime winner 鈥 in Montreal鈥檚 4-3 victory Sunday in Game 1.
Trips to the sin bin have been a season-long trend for the Lightning. They leaned into a nastier style after back-to-back playoff exits against the Florida Panthers, but that approach has come at a cost.
Tampa Bay piled up a league-high 1,207 penalty minutes this season, 229 more than the next-closest team. On Sunday, the Lightning took seven minor penalties, including an offensive-zone high stick from Jake Guentzel with 21 seconds left in the third period that set up the winner.
鈥淭he big one is obviously staying out of the penalty box,鈥 centre Anthony Cirelli said after practice Monday at Benchmark International Arena. 鈥淭hey have a really good power play, so I think that helps if we can try and eliminate our penalties.鈥
鈥淭he penalties we took were kind of no-brain calls,鈥 he added. 鈥淭he high stick, too many men, those are ones that you put yourself in a bad situation, you give them a chance to call them. Got to be a little more disciplined in our stick checks and be a little bit more aware out there.鈥
If the Lightning clean that up for Game 2 on Tuesday, the Canadiens must find a way to generate offence at even strength.
Montreal mustered just nine five-on-five shots Sunday as Tampa鈥檚 second line of Cirelli, Guentzel and Brandon Hagel stifled the Canadiens鈥 elite top trio of Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.
鈥淭here's a lot more out there for us,鈥 said Caufield, a 50-goal scorer who only registered his first shot partway through the third period Sunday.
Caufield added that his line 鈥 which combined for 262 points this season 鈥 can鈥檛 鈥渃heat鈥 and take ill-advised risks to force chances, especially at this time of year.
"A mature game is waiting for them to make the turnovers and for us it's just taking care of the puck,鈥 he said. "That's just the way the games are played right now, it's pretty tight and you've got to execute well on those opportunities. There's a lot to talk about five-on-five that we can do better at, and we'll do that for Game 2."
Hagel took the Lightning鈥檚 well-executed game plan against the Canadiens鈥 top guns as a positive sign. And the mood in Tampa鈥檚 room remained confident, if the team can clean up its discipline.
鈥淟isten, the sun came up this morning, we鈥檙e still in a series,鈥 Hagel said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 believe coming into this series we were going to sweep these guys. They got a good hockey team over there and we have that same belief, so what does that mean? We鈥檙e probably going to win one eventually.
鈥淭hat was only one game, and we got a lot more to go.鈥
NO PANIC
The Lightning鈥檚 penalty kill showed cracks after finishing third in the NHL at 82.6 per cent, but Hagel doesn鈥檛 see a need for an overhaul ahead of Tuesday.
"I don't think you need to hit the panic button,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 think six penalties is too much, and you're starting to kill six penalties 鈥 they get one, they get two, and maybe you're gripping the stick a little bit tight.鈥
CARRIER STEPS UP
Canadiens defenceman Alexandre Carrier didn鈥檛 miss a beat in his return from a nine-game absence, even in a larger-than-usual role.
"It wasn't an easy situation for him, but he looked like it was,鈥 defenceman Kaiden Guhle said. 鈥淗e did a great job. He missed a couple of weeks and came back and looked like he didn't miss any.鈥
As the only right-shot defenceman in the lineup in Game 1, Carrier filled in for injured Noah Dobson on Montreal鈥檚 top pairing with Mike Matheson. The five-foot-11, 174-pound blueliner played 18 minutes 36 seconds with three hits and two blocked shots in a steady performance.
鈥淗e was unbelievable,鈥 Caufield said. 鈥淲ell-rested for sure, but I think he worked his ass off to get back and be in shape for this 鈥 Couple big hits, which is unlike him. He's usually on the other side of those.鈥
HOME WOES
On home ice, the Lightning have one win and eight losses since the beginning of the 2023 playoffs.
鈥淵eah, that鈥檚 not a very good look,鈥 Hagel said. 鈥淏ut at the end of the day, that鈥檚 just a stat. There鈥檚 a different group that comes in here every single year.鈥
Tampa Bay has also dropped six consecutive overtime games in the playoffs after Sunday鈥檚 defeat.
"That's a tough one, because it was the opposite before that, and now it's come into a tough trend,鈥 Cooper said of both stats. 鈥淪omething we have to fix.鈥
D鈥橝STOUS DOUBTFUL
Cooper said Lightning defenceman Charle-Edouard D'Astous was 鈥渄oubtful鈥 after he left Sunday鈥檚 game in the second period following a high hit from Josh Anderson.
D'Astous, a 27-year-old from Rimouski, Que., is playing his first NHL season after a journeyman career through the ECHL, AHL and the Swedish and Slovakian leagues.
鈥淗e's a been a great story for us and for himself,鈥 Cooper said. "You never want to have guys out.鈥
This report by 好色tvwas first published April 20, 2026.
