Before we get too far into this, we will admit we did not watch tonight’s game. Thanks to a combination of factors including, but not limited to, a rough day at the bill-paying job, wonky internet, and the fact that we have no couch, we’re not going to watch the game either. So here are some recaps of the 2-1 loss from folks that we assume did watch the game. Bo Horvat and old friend Anthony Duclair had the tallies for the Islanders while Dominic James scored for the Lightning.
Our thoughts based on reading those recaps: Cool, Dominic James scored. “Cute, but not effective” is a good way to sum things up for the Lightning when they struggle. Thanks for that, J.J. Moser. Not enough consistent pressure throughout the game, but they were still within a shot of tying it. Andrei Vasilevskiy had his six-game winning streak come to an end despite stopping 21 of 23 shots.
Dominic James [2] (Emil Lilleberg, Nick Paul)
“SCORREEE!!! JAMES!!!”
DJ from a tough angle gets the Bolts on the board!
#TBLvsNYI
🎧: boltsaud.io/live
📻: 102.5 The Bone
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) December 2, 2025 at 9:29 PM
“We lost that shot mentality in the first,” is how Dominic James described the start. When asked about what they might take from this game he replied, “Don’t get so down. We won seven in a row. Obviously we wanted to win this one, but we made a good effort in the end.”
Nice save by Ilya Sorokin on Cirelli’s breakaway. “Sometimes you have to tip your hat to the goalie,” is how Coach Jon Cooper described Sorokin’s 27-save performance.
Pretty Colors!
Interesting note from looking at the Natural Stat Trick data: The Bolts only allowed 5 high-danger chances all game long. That’s pretty good, even in a loss.Tampa Bay isn’t going to lose a lot of games where they carry a 21-5 edge in HDCF or double up a team in scoring chances (32-16). “We had our chances and they didn’t go in,” was Coach Jon Cooper’s summation of the game.
Only getting two shots on net in six minutes of power play time isn’t going to cut it.
We’ll be back with an actual recap for Thursday’s game.