Hours after Lightning general manager Brian Lawton questioned his team's work ethic on Thursday, the team responded.
A winning kind of effort was put forth, even if the end result was a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers behind Chris Drury's hat trick. It was the Lightning's third loss this season against New York, and it marked the most goals Tampa Bay has allowed this season.
Lawton, however, was impressed by the effort, if not the outcome.
"I actually thought the guys did well, and that's why it was frustrating Wednesday in a shootout loss to New Jersey to not get two points, because you are going to get into games like tonight where we play well, and we really did, and you are not going to win," Lawton said. "And that's the way the league is, sometimes the game won't let you win."
After falling behind 2-0 midway through the second period, the Lightning twice cut the lead to one, only to see the Rangers respond quickly.
By the end, emotions spilled over when goaltender Mike Smith had enough of Rangers forward Aaron Voros. With New York on a two-man advantage in the final minutes, Smith slashed the back of Voros' legs three times. Smith later shoved him and took off his blocker to land a few punches.
"It's an emotional game, and sometimes things don't go the way you want them to," Smith said. "Sometimes emotions get the better of you, and tonight it happened and I have to learn from that. I'm there to stop the puck and not get into skirmishes, so that's uncalled for on my part."
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