The Lightning dropped Game Two in overtime when old friend, Carter Verhaeghe, roofed one over Andrei Vasilevskiy just a few minutes into overtime. With the loss, the Lightning head back home down two-games-to-none and they have to find a way to get the win or this will be a short series.
After the game, the press spoke with the players and the head coach. Steven Stamkos was first up and put it rather bluntly at the end, “We just have to win the next game.”
Brayden Point was up next and he spoke about what he liked about the Lightning’s game. Mainly, it was the zone time the Lightning were able to generate in the second period.
Coach Cooper finished things off by complimenting both goaltenders, “Some times you’ve got to sit here and marvel at some of the saves.”
While things are looking bleak, the Lightning have been in this position before and pulled off the comeback, twice. As friend of the blog Paul Driscoll pointed out on Twitter.
In 2003, the Tampa Bay Lightning were back in the playoffs for the first time in almost a decade. The young squad played like it early losing the first two games of the series at home by a combined score of 9-3 to the Capitals. A 4-3 overtime win courtesy of a Vincent Lecavalier power play goal would spark them on to four straight wins. The final victory was a three-overtime classic that ended on another Lightning power play goal, this one from Marty St. Louis.
Nineteen years later, in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Lightning would pull the same trick. After sweeping the Florida Panthers in the second round, Tampa Bay came out flat in a 6-2 loss in New York. They played better but gave up three straight goals in a 3-2 loss. With everyone writing off their chances of a three-peat, the series went back to Tampa and the Lightning found their stride, winning the next four and only allowing five goals over those four contests.
So, while darkness seems to be closing in, don’t count these folks out just yet. They may still have a little magic left in them.
