Cooper bemoans number of near misses in narrow Game 4 defeat

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper believes his club's overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final came down to a matter of inches.

"Probably not hit as many posts as we hit," Cooper said postgame when asked what the Lightning could have done differently. "Puck's been going in for us, tonight they didn't. Did I think we generated enough chances to score? I did. They didn't go in. Sometimes that happens."

Tampa Bay struck iron multiple times on Monday night. The biggest chance was Nikita Kucherov's deflection attempt in the dying minutes of the third period with the game tied.

The Lightning controlled play throughout the contest. At five-on-five, the defending champs fired 60.98% of the shot attempts, 77.78% of high-danger chances, and 70.66% of expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick.

However, Josh Anderson's heroics in overtime kept the Canadiens' season alive.

Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday night at Amalie Arena.