(Tampa) At the beginning of March in Buffalo, Jon Cooper did what very few coaches in this league dare to do: he left star players on the bench.
It happened in a 5-3 loss to the Sabres, in which Steven Stamkos, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov all spent the third period dry on the bench.
The following day, the Lightning suffered a 6-0 rout in Carolina, and it was believed to see the start of a mutiny, but since then the club has won four out of six games, in addition to remaining in the top in the standings, and in third place in his division.
But what exactly happened that night in Buffalo?
PHOTO HANNAH FOSLIEN, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Lightning coach Jon Cooper
“We are used to doing things a certain way here, and the expectations are not the same for all players,” explained the Lightning coach on Saturday morning in Tampa. But we can’t lower our standards either, whether it’s a guy playing 8 minutes a game, or a guy playing 25 minutes a game.
“So because we’ve been together for so long, the players know that. We are talking about it. But no one here is bigger than the club, and I include myself in that. »
Sometimes you have to make sure everyone understands that the same standards still exist.
Jon Cooper, Lightning coach
That storm is now a thing of the past according to the Lightning coach, and that’s probably true. The Lightning just beat the New Jersey Devils twice in a row.
“Before we talked about it here this morning, I don’t think anyone among us had talked about what happened in Buffalo,” added Jon Cooper. I loved how the guys responded. The game the next day in Carolina was a tough game, the second in 24 hours, we were tired, and I’m not too upset about what happened that night. But since then, I’ve been very happy with the way our big players have responded. We wouldn’t be here without them…”