Lightning look to force Game 7, Avs’ Andre Burakovsky possible to play

The Tampa Bay Lightning have been on a mission this season to become the first team in the modern salary cap era to win three Cups in a row. They’ll also be the first team to do so since New York Islanders won four straight from 1980-1983.

In order for that to happen, Lightning coach Jon Cooper will need his charges to execute the game-plan and force a Game 7. It certainly won’t be easy as they are trying to climb out of 3-1 series hole.

The odds of the Lightning winning this series are slim. NHL history shows a team that takes a 3-1 series lead in the Final will win 35 out of 36 times. Back in 1942, the Toronto Maple Leafs became the only team to do it by storming back from 3-0 down to beat the Detroit Red Wings.

“I think that with our group, you just have reset and understand, like, it’s the first one to four. It’s not the first one to three,” Cooper explained. “You don’t know how you’re going to get there.”

Lightning looking to force a Game 7

Tampa won a huge Game 5 thanks to a third period goal from Ondrej Palat with a little over 6 minutes to play. Captain Steven Stamkos understands the mission ahead.

“We extend the season and that’s what we wanted to do,” Stamkos said. “We talked about one game at a time. It was a grind, but we found a way. Great effort and now we’ve got to do it again.”

Surviving elimination games has become a speciality of this team since last year’s Eastern Conference Final Game 7 win over the New York Islanders. Including that contest and into these playoffs, Tampa is 4-0 when facing elimination (10 GF, 6 GA).

“Listen, this is a huge challenge for us,” said Pat Maroon, who is looking to win his fourth straight Cup (St. Louis Blues 2019). “An exciting challenge, too. You’ve got to be excited for this challenge and embrace it.”

The Lightning have been great at Amalie Arena where Game 6 will be played. This postseason, they’re 8-2 on home ice.

Andre Burakovsky possible for Game 6