The Lightning were swept in four games by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Eastern Conference First Round after tying the NHL single-season record with 62 wins (1995-96 Detroit Red Wings). Now they’re even with the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Final after going 12-4 in the first three rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including a five-game win against Columbus in the first round.
Game 3 of the best-of-7 series is at Rogers Place in Edmonton, the hub city for the Final, on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).
“I think experience and being humbled can help right a ship,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “I truly believe last year’s experience, we’re seeing the fruits of that awful setback. What do they say the definition of insanity is, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result? We couldn’t do that.”
The Lightning are bigger, tougher, stronger and grittier than they were a season ago. Former Lightning forward Ryan Callahan, who played for them last season and was a guest on the NHL @TheRink podcast Tuesday, said they have more “sandpaper.”
Tampa Bay signed forward Pat Maroon to a one-year, $900,000 contract last Aug. 24. The Lightning then bolstered their roster during the season by acquiring forwards Barclay Goodrow and Blake Coleman in trades, giving up a first-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in each, and signing defenseman Zach Bogosian to a one-year, $1.3 million contract after he was placed on waivers by the Buffalo Sabres.
Goodrow and Coleman play on the aggressive, attacking, fast and physical third line with center Yanni Gourde. Goodrow has become one of Cooper’s go-to players late in close games; he took three face-offs in the final minute of a 3-2 win in Game 2 on Monday.
“I commend [general manager Julien BriseBois] because he stuck his neck out on the line,” Cooper said. “I know he was probably questioned or criticized for the amount people perceived he gave up, but to me it doesn’t matter. It’s what your assets do to build your team to win. He did that. They weren’t sexy trades, they weren’t sexy signings, but they were gutty ones, and it was what we needed.”
The third line is evidence of what is different about the Lightning: It doesn’t have to score to be effective.
“We used to be a team that it wasn’t good enough to beat you 3-0, we had to beat you 9-0,” Cooper said. “We had to change that attitude.”
For example, Tampa Bay took a 3-0 lead against Columbus in the first period of Game 1 last season, got comfortable, thought it would come easy and ended up giving it away and lost 4-3.
On Monday, the Lightning took a 3-0 lead in the first period of Game 2, stood in as the Stars tried to punch back, took a few blows but limited Dallas to two shots after Mattias Janmark scored to make it 3-2 at 5:27 of the third period.
Video: The Tampa Bay Lightning come away with Game 2
They are 10-2 this postseason in games decided by one goal, including 4-1 in overtime. They have won 10 games scoring three or fewer goals.
“The M.O. on the Lightning the last few years is that they’re offensive and they’re skilled and the way to beat them is to play them hard,” said defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, who is in his first season with Tampa Bay. “I think things have changed this year. The perception of our team will be changed after this playoffs is over. We make it a point to play defense and play structured, and we know that because we have all the skill in our lineup when our offensive chances do come we have the ability to take advantage of it.”
Cooper said the change in attitude came from Tampa Bay’s best players. Nikita Kucherov is the perfect example.
Last season, the forward was voted the Hart Trophy winner as NHL most valuable player and the Ted Lindsay Award winner as most outstanding player as voted by members of the NHL Players’ Association, and won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL scoring leader with 128 points (41 goals, 47 assists). But he was suspended for Game 3 against Columbus for boarding defenseman Markus Nutivaara late in the third period of Game 2, a 5-1 loss.
This season, Kucherov has set the Lightning record for most points in a postseason with 28 (six goals, 22 assists), including two assists in Game 2. He hasn’t missed a game and is arguably setting the tone for Tampa Bay with how hard he’s playing.
“Look no further than Nikita Kucherov’s game last night, and how he was getting beat up in ways that for anybody it’s hard to come back,” Cooper said. “All he did was come back and run a power play that scored two goals and be a big part of why we won. When guys understand that it’s now what you keep out of your net and not how much you put in your net, good things will happen, and that’s what’s going on so far.”
