Leading 3-2 in the best-of-7 series after winning the last three games, the Lightning are one win away from becoming the first team to reach the Stanley Cup final in three consecutive seasons by the Edmonton Oilers since 1983. -1985. “These moments do not come often and fortunately we have been on the other side for the last three years, having the opportunity to put ourselves in good shape to try to win again,” Lightning striker Pat Maroon said on Friday. “And we are in a very good position to get back to the final right now. It is not an easy task. It will still be a big series here. We have to find a way to keep competing and keep working hard.” Before Tampa Bay can think of a possible clash with Colorado Avalanche, the Western Conference champions, in the Cup final or move one step closer to completing their bid for a third consecutive Stanley Cup, they must focus on closing the Rangers. , who are 5-0 when they face the exclusion in the playoffs this season. But Lightning’s assessment of the horror it has already taken three years to get to this point also provides a glimpse of what they are on the verge of achieving. Saturday will be Tampa Bay’s 65th playoff game since the start of the 2020 post-season, equaling the record for most NHL playoff games in three seasons established by the Chicago Blackhawks from 2013-2015, according to NHL statistics. The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2013 and lost to the Los Angeles Kings in seven games in the Western Conference Finals in 2014 before winning the Cup again in 2015. In the first-round best-of-5 series, the Oilers played 53 playoff games during their three consecutive trips to the Stanley Cup final, which began with a loss to the New York Islanders in 1983 before winning against the Islanders in 1984. and the Philadelphia Flyers in 1985. “It is never easy and when you look back, especially these last two years, some of the things that have happened to you, the breaks that you have taken and the bounces that you have taken and how you have overcome the bounces that you have not done” “It’s all part of it,” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “But it is not easy to do.” [Complete Rangers vs. Lightning series coverage] Tampa Bay is vying to become the first team to win the Cup in three consecutive seasons since the Islanders won four consecutive championships since 1980-83. The Lightning already had a more difficult road this post-season. When they won the Cup the last two seasons, they faced the exclusion once – in the 7th Stanley Cup semi-final match against the Islanders last season and won 1-0. This post-season, Lightning faced a two-time first-round dismissal from the Toronto Maple Leafs, winning 4-3 in overtime in Game 6 before winning 2-1 in Game 7. Despite losing center-back Brayden Point with Injury to Lower Body Game 7 vs. Toronto, Tampa Bay swept the Florida Panthers in the second round before losing the first two games against New York in the conference finals. With their three dreams in jeopardy, the Lightning team gathered to win the last three games, leaving them on the precipice of another place in the Cup Final. “The playoffs are difficult in general,” Maroon said. “Obviously, the loss of Point Game 7 from Toronto is a huge, huge loss for us, but I think the kids have come a long way, taking another step. Empty that you’re missing with ‘Pointer.’ “But it’s not a playoff if someone is not hurt, right? So you have to get over it.” Maroon knows this like everyone else. Having won the Stanley Cup with St. The Louis Blues in 2019, played 90 playoff games in the last four seasons, which is the most during a four-season period in NHL history, according to NHL statistics. Center Nicholas Paul, who was traded to the Ottawa Senators on March 20, had not played in an NHL playoff game before this season, but quickly learned what was going on in a long playoff series by watching the players around. . one who has experienced it many times. “The kids on the team go for three Cups, guys like me, [forward Bandon Hagel] or other guys going for their first Stanley Cup, we know what is at stake and we do not interrupt a game, “said Paul.” This is a really good team. You take a break, they will give it to you, they will take it. So we know what is at stake. “ Although Lightning’s tank may be depleted as it nears the end of a third consecutive long playoff run, they are determined to move on. “When you get to this point and you are so close, the bumps and bruises, the fatigue, the fatigue, all these things, they have to get out the window,” Cooper said. “You play all year from preparation to the end and you go through the monotony of things happening and injuries and now you are a game away from reaching the Stanley Cup final, something that should just prevail over anything that hurts you physically. . We have had some success with this in the past, but again this does not guarantee anything that will happen in the future. We have to bring our A-game. ”
