Jon Cooper, who has won two Stanley Cups with the Lightning and is the longest-tenured coach in the National Hockey League, said it has been hard to keep tabs on everything while amidst the regular season. Cooper, center top, yells toward the ice during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, on Dec. 23, 2024.Rhona Wise/The Associated Press
Jon Cooper has been doing his best to catch up with players on Canada’s contingent for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
While embroiled in the NHL’s regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning head coach, who will be behind Canada’s bench in the tournament next month, has chatted up roster members at every opportunity.
“One of the most enjoyable parts of this whole experience has been being able to meet all the players when we are on the road or they come to Tampa,” Cooper said before Monday’s matchup with the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena. “It’s probably a little unusual as an away coach to meet a player on another team on a game day but I have to give props to all the coaches.
“They have been super accommodating. Everyone is competitive and everyone wants to win the Stanley Cup, but this has a different feel. When it comes to putting on your flag everybody takes a step aside and understands what’s going on.”
The 4 Nations Face-Off will be staged in Montreal and Boston from Feb. 12-20 and include Olympic-style teams from Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland.
Toronto’s Mitch Marner has been named to the team, which also includes Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Brad Marchand and three Tampa Bay players – Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel.
Cooper, who has won two Stanley Cups with the Lightning and is the longest-tenured coach in the National Hockey League, said it has been hard to keep tabs on everything while amidst the regular season. Support staff have been working for him.
“That’s why Canada rocks,” Cooper said. “Hockey Canada just knows how to do it. It does a heck of a job.”
The Lightning came to Toronto with hope for redemption after losing the first two games against the Maple Leafs this season by a combined score of 10-5.
Tampa Bay Lightning's Conor Geekie and Toronto Maple Leafs Jake McCabe battle for the puck during first period NHL hockey action in Toronto, on Jan. 20.Cole Burston/The Canadian Press
They entered Monday seven points behind the leaders in the NHL’s Atlantic Division and another defeat would make it impractical to expect them to catch Toronto in the standings.
On top of that, they are only 3-6 against division opponents.
“We haven’t done as well as we’d like and we’re 0-2 against these guys,” Cooper said hours before the puck dropped at Scotiabank Arena. “For us this is one of those games where we will find where we are at.
“You go down 0-3 to Toronto and that is not where we want to be. So I’d be bitterly disappointed if we didn’t come out strong.”
In the previous meetings they trailed early and by a lot.
“We don’t think we gave ourselves a chance,” Cooper said. “Our starts have to be better.”
The Lightning have gone 5-1-1 over their preceding seven games and are third in the Atlantic but the usual also-rans – Ottawa, Montreal – have closed in on them. Boston is floundering but fourth.
Toronto and Florida remain first and second but after that comes a logjam.
“There has been a top four and another four in our division for a long time and that’s clearly not the case now,” Cooper said. “The gap has closed. It’s a coin flip now every night.
“Whether Toronto and Florida are the class of the division now, they are not a class above everybody else and in years past that was the case.”
The Maple Leafs entered inauguration day with the fifth-best record in the league despite losses in three of their previous five games. They ended a three-game losing streak with a win over the New Jersey Devils in Sheldon Keefe’s return to Toronto on Thursday and then blew the doors off the Canadiens by scoring seven unanswered goals on Saturday.
Joseph Woll got the start in Toronto’s net, his 24th of the season, a career high. Woll came into the contest with a 16-8 record and .907 save percentage. Tampa Bay backup Jonas Johansson got the call for the visitors.
Johansson had not played since Jan. 12 in a victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 29-year-old was excellent in that one, saving 33 of 35 shots.
Toronto was without Max Pacioretty, who is healing after getting hit in the head by a slap shot by Auston Matthews on Saturday. Fraser Minten slid into his spot.
After going pointless in consecutive games on Jan. 2 and Jan. 4, Lightning superstar Nikita Kucherov came in on an eight-game scoring streak with 14 points (four goals and 10 assists). Kucherov has feasted on the Leafs in his career, recording 45 points (19 goals and 26 assists) in 36 games.
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