The Tampa Bay Lightning Are Down But Not Out
from John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times,
In a Stanley Cup playoff series filled with stars and backstories, we have been obsessed with the ramifications of penalties and the influence of pressure on Toronto and Tampa Bay.
We wonder about momentum and motivation and mindset.
And we forget that sometimes it just comes down to moments.
Game 5 was like that Tuesday night. For a long stretch, the Lightning looked dominant and their knack for rising to the occasion seemed an integral part of the plot. And then, once again, foolish penalties became an issue and Toronto came roaring back. Both teams scored during a thrilling third period and, for a while, it looked like they might be heading to overtime for the first time in the series.
Until the seemingly mundane chore of taking the puck up the ice cost the Lightning dearly in a 4-3 loss. And, in 48 hours, we’ll know if it cost them a chance for a third consecutive Stanley Cup....
This is new territory for the Lightning. At least this current version of the team. The Lightning have faced elimination only one time in the past two postseasons, and that was a Game 7 at home against the Islanders. The last time they faced the prospect of needing to win both Games 6 and 7 of a series was the 2015 Stanley Cup final against the Blackhawks.
They lost Game 6 that year, 2-0.
“We’re here to win the series,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “We lost a game (Tuesday). Like I said, we let this one slip away. That’s on us. But we haven’t let the series slip away, we let a game slip away.”
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Below are the game highlights....
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