TAMPA – In their three straight runs to the Stanley Cup Final, tonight marks the 71st postseason game for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the last 22 months.
They've won 11 straight series and two championships. But they need to win one more game in Amalie Arena to keep this series alive and send it all back to Denver for the ultimate showdown. The Lightning and Colorado Avalanche meet in Game 6 Sunday night at 8 (ABC). The Avalanche lead the series, 3-2.
Tampa overcame a 3-2 deficit in the first round against Toronto. It's trying to become the first team to turn a 3-1 hole in the final into a 3-3 standoff since Edmonton did it in 2006. No one has won the Cup in that spot since Toronto won the last four games against Detroit in 1942.
The Lightning have won two of three since a 7-0 loss in Game 2 and the defeat came on Nazem Kadri's overtime goal in Game 4.
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"I think it's just having a short memory, no matter if it's good or bad and taking it one game at a time," Tampa Bay's Anthony Cirelli said after today's pregame skate. "We’ve played a lot of games and a lot of series, and it's a series here so we just gotta take each game for what it is and go out there and be ready each and every time. Even like (Game 5 in Denver), we got the win, but ... after that night, we were back to work the next day, and here we are for Game 6."
"When it gets down to these elimination games, your urgency definitely gets a lot higher," Tampa defenseman and former Sabre Zach Bogosian said. "But there's a ton of guys in that room that have experience and I just think the key is to not get too high, not get too low. Really just as cliche as is to say, just try to go out there and win your next shift and not look too far ahead."
The Lightning been much better of late, holding the Avalanche to just seven goals in three games (only four at 5-on-5). They simply never get too high or too low in these spots.
"I think we've defended better," said Bogosian. "There were times earlier in the series that we made some uncharacteristic defensive plays. Seems like we've cleaned those up."
Before leaving Denver on Saturday morning, coach Jon Cooper gave it up to his team's three-year run, no matter how this one turns out.
"I do have to marvel at what's gone on and how many times you can be kicked and get back off the mat," Cooper said. "It's not always the game situations. It's the injuries and the blocked shots and the gamesmanship and all those things that kind of just needle you to go away. Just like little gnats, like 'OK, go. It's OK. It's OK if you back down now. You've won. You've done it.' And that's why I think teams don't keep repeating, because it's easy to walk away. These guys won't do it, and it's something to marvel."
The Lightning will again be without standout forward Brayden Point, who gutted out the first two games of this series but was clearly ineffective in dealing with a lower-body injury he suffered in Game 7 of the opening round in Toronto.
"Players are used to playing at a certain way, or how they feel they can play," Cooper said today. "If they don’t feel confident in playing at the caliber they’re used to, it almost works against them. So it’s unfortunate because it’s a severe injury and at this time of the year, everybody’s trying to get back into the lineup and just there are some things you can’t do."
As for the Avalanche, they seemed a tad swallowed by the hype in a potential Cup clincher Friday at home, with coach Jared Bednar saying today his team played the game "pretty safe" rather than attacking the situation. But the Avs have won their previous three series all on the road and are looking to repeat that trend.
The Avs were in this situation in the second round against St. Louis: After taking a 3-1 lead, they lost Game 5 at home before wrapping up the series on the road. They're hoping for a similar scenario here.
"It was the first time for all the guys being in that position," winger Mikko Rantanen said today. "For sure there are nerves. Everybody can say there's not but everybody had a little nerves since it was the first time. The second time is going to be easier. We've been quick learners the whole postseason after losses."
