ESPN4/20/2026SportsUnited States
Lightning's Cooper rips team's 'stupidity' in penalties after Game 1 loss to Canadiens
Juraj Slafkovský's overtime hat trick lifts Montreal to 4-3 win; Tampa Bay coach criticizes four offensive-zone penalties
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- Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper criticized his team's excessive penalties following a 4-3 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of their playoff series.
- Canadiens winger Juraj Slafkovský completed a hat trick just 1:22 into overtime, with all three goals coming on the power play.
- Cooper singled out a critical high-sticking penalty on Jake Guentzel with 21 seconds left in regulation that carried over into overtime.
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Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper criticized his team's excessive penalties following a 4-3 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of their playoff series. Canadiens winger Juraj Slafkovský completed a hat trick just 1:22 into overtime, with all three goals coming on the power play. Cooper singled out a critical high-sticking penalty on Jake Guentzel with 21 seconds left in regulation that carried over into overtime. "We took four offensive-zone penalties. That's not overaggression; that was stupidity," Cooper said. Game 2 is Tuesday in Tampa.
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This article was originally published by ESPN.
