"We weren't playing well right from the start and that was everybody," he said. "Our whole game, our defensive game, our offensive game, there was nothing there. "We had nobody, really, who played a good game." Tampa Bay was playing the second of back-to-back games and its third game in four nights, "But I don't want to make excuses," Boucher said. "We have to be better."

"It didn't help we played three in four nights, but it's not an excuse," said goaltender Mathieu Garon, whose 37 saves kept the score respectable. "It's part of the schedule."

"They came out strong, and we weren't ready for it," defenseman Victor Hedman said. "We got out-battled, out-chanced and didn't work enough. We can't do the same mistakes again."

Steven Stamkos, Marty St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier played one of their worst games of the season.