Tampa coach Jon Cooper trolls broadcaster Darren Pang on live TV during game

Tampa Bay Lightning has been the stand-out team in the NHL for the last three years. They won the Cup in 2020 and 2021 but got denied a third consecutive win this summer when the Colorado Avalanche won their first Cup since 2001. 

Many thought that the Lightning would continue to dominate heading into a new season, but the start of the 2022-23 campaign has been a disappointment.

Ahead of last night’s game against the Anaheim Ducks, the Lightning had only won three of their seven games played. So a win against the Ducks was needed to get some breathing room, and they did what was expected.

The Ducks scored the opening goal, but Michail Sergachyov equalized with 17:18 into the first period, and before the first period ended, Nikita Kucherov had put Tampa up one goal. 

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Lightning won the game 4-2, and although they didn’t score the game-winning goal until late in the third, head coach Jon Cooper was in a great mood.

Broadcasters Darren Peng stood next to the Lightning’s bench during the broadcast. He was on a mission to get a short interview with Cooper and had to show some great athletics to climb past the players to get where Cooper was standing.

When he arrived at Cooper, he told his colleagues that he needed something to step on because the height difference between him and Cooper was noticeable. And Jon Cooper couldn’t help but bring out his inner troll.

He started making gestures about Pang’s height, and the video sequence gained much attention on social media. Some even said, ”Jon Cooper trolling Darren Pang on the bench is pretty peak NHL comedy.”

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