Tampa Bay Lightning looking for first win in Eastern Conference Final against Rangers
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 01: Tampa Bay Lightning Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy (88) blocks a wraparound shot attempt by New York Rangers Right Wing Frank Vatrano (77) during game 1 of the NHL Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals between the Tampa Bay Lig
NEW YORK - Over the last few playoff runs, if there's been a vulnerability with the Lightning, it's been seen during Game 1 matchups.
The Bolts are 6-5 during the first game of playoff rounds during the last three NHL postseasons. They're much better in Game 2 of these rounds, having won 9 out of 10.
Head coach Jon Cooper said there are two reasons for this: they're masters of self-correction, and they take every loss personally. He's confident fans won't see what they saw Wednesday night.
The Rangers scored four unanswered goals in the final 30 minutes. Cooper believes that 6-2 loss might have something to do with the lack of stamina, possibly because of the long layoff after the Lightning swept the Panthers – but he said that's not an excuse.
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Tampa Bay came out a little sluggish to start the series after having last played nine days earlier when they finished their second-round sweep of Florida on May 23. Over the last three postseasons in which they’ve won 10 straight series, including back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, the Lightning are 17-0 in games following a loss.
"It’s getting back to the strength of our game, being a little bit simpler and getting pucks behind then and getting to work in the o-zone," defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "We’ll be anxious for Game 2."
The Lightning have been in this position just last month when they lost 5-0 in Game 1 of the first round against Toronto. They won two of the next four games and trailed 3-2 before winning that series and sweeping Florida.
"It’s Game 1, we’ve been through this before," Cooper said. "We’ve won series where we’ve lost the first game and we’ve won series where we’ve won the first game."
The Rangers also expect a much stronger effort from the Lightning on Friday night.
"They’re going to be ready to play," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "You don’t win two Stanley Cups and not be ready to play at this time of year. We expect a pushback, but we’re going to play our game again, we’re going to play the best we can and worry about playing our game."
The puck drops tonight at 8 p.m.
The Associated Press contributed to this report