Lightning get fourth straight loss, miss opportunity for points on California roadtrip

After dropping games to the San Jose Sharks on Thursday and the LA Kings on Saturday, the Lightning were looking to get a win in Anaheim on Sunday night. The 4-1 loss means they didn’t acquire points on the three-game California roadtrip.

The Lightning were flat offensively against the Sharks, but overall had a better performance against the Kings. In total they were outscored 8-3 between the three games, a situation they're not accustomed to. They currently sit in the first wild card spot in the standings, but have played four fewer games than Toronto, who sits in first place.

“Yeah, this is tough to swallow, coming out here, playing three games and coming out with zero points, we're definitely not used to that. It's a humbling game,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper.

“In the end, it's the final result that matters, whether it was a bad start tonight or kind of a bad finish last night. You know, in the end, we scored three goals in three games, and it's tough to win when you're not scoring. We've been used to scoring a lot this year.”

Troy Terry and Frank Vatrano scored two goals in the first period, and the Ducks maintained the lead from there.

The Lightning made a push in the second period and Jake Guentzel’s power-play goal brought them back into it 2-1.

“We started playing hard, that’s the bottom line. We dug down a little bit and played our game,” Guentzel said of the second period. “Obviously, they defend hard, and it was just one of those nights where we just didn’t come on time.”

Anaheim defenseman Jackson LaCombe put the Ducks over the edge, making it 3-1 with 3:34 left in the third. Vatrano then secured the win with an empty-net goal, giving them the 4-1 lead.

“Obviously, it’s hard playing from behind,” said Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli. “We didn’t come out of the gate there like we wanted to. We were down two quickly. I thought we pushed there in the second and third, but it’s hard when you start a game like that.”

Sunday night gave the Lightning their fourth straight loss. They'll have a chance to rebound quickly when they face the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday at Amalie Arena. Carolina has a 9-9-2 record on the road and a 24-14-2 record overall. The last time the two teams met, the Lightning won 4-1, with Nikita Kucherov scoring three goals.