Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper owned up Wednesday for remarks he made following the club's elimination from the playoffs.

In the wake of Monday's 6-1 loss in which the Lightning had two goals called back for goaltender interference, Cooper expressed his frustration using phrasing he later regretted.

Less than 48 hours later, the NHL's longest-tenured active bench boss offered a mea culpa.

"I made an inappropriate analogy about goalies in skirts," Cooper said. "It's one of those moments where if you could just reach (out) and grab the words back, I would have. As a father of two (and) especially a massive supporter of women's hockey - and I have girls that play sports - quite frankly, it was wrong, and I (had) to go explain myself to my girls.

"I sincerely apologize to all I offended," Cooper added. "It's pained me more than the actual series loss itself. It's one of those moments (when) I don't think my actions of the past have led me to ... I guess just judge me more on those maybe than the emotional, quite frankly dumb words that came out of my mouth the other night. So for that, I'm sorry."

Cooper has guided the Lightning since March 2013. He helped them win the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021 and was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award (given out annually to the NHL's top head coach) in 2014 and 2019. The 56-year-old won the AHL's Calder Cup and USHL's Clark Cup as a bench boss before jumping to the NHL.

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The Vegas Golden Knights turned to Adin Hill for Game 5 of their first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night.

He made 22 saves on 25 shots during the defending champs' 3-2 defeat.

Hill hadn't played since the regular-season finale on April 18, when he gave up three goals in a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

Last spring, he took over the Vegas crease midway through the championship run and ultimately went 11-4 with a .932 save percentage across 16 games en route to lifting the Stanley Cup.

Logan Thompson started the first four games of the series, authoring a .921 save percentage. Vegas lost the last two contests after taking a 2-0 series lead, but Thompson can hardly be blamed for the defeats. He made 43 saves during a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 3 and then turned aside all but three of the 31 shots he faced in Game 4.

The Golden Knights defeated the Florida Panthers 9-3 in Game 5 of the final to secure the trophy last June. Hill made 32 saves in the win.

The Stars hold a 3-2 series lead. Game 6 is scheduled for Friday in Vegas.

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