The Tampa Bay Lightning may have set the NHL on fire during the regular season, but the Stanley Cup Playoffs are proving to be a completely different animal.

Tampa Bay dropped Game 3 of their opening-round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1, and now are faced with a 3-0 deficit, a bleak circumstance for the league-best Lightning.

Despite the pressing situation, Lightning head coach John Cooper is keeping it positive moving forward.

“There was a lot of positive energy in that room after the third period,” Cooper said after Game 3, according to FOX Sports Florida. “Adversity hits in different ways and we haven’t had a lot of it during the regular season and we have it now. We had adversity going into the third period and I thought we responded well and we’ve just got to carry that on.

“As far as I know, we’re playing Tuesday, right? So, we’re still alive.”

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos believes that a third period that saw the Lightning outshoot the Blue Jackets 17-8 could be an indication that Tampa Bay is cracking through.

“We pushed. We pushed hard. If anything, maybe we found a recipe to break some of their structure there,” Stamkos said.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed top college defenseman Andrew Peeke to a three-year entry-level contract, prompting him to leave school a year early.

The Blue Jackets announced the signing, and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen issued the following statement about Peeke;

“Andrew is a mobile defenseman who has the ability to make plays at both end of the ice. He also possesses great character and leadership qualities and we are excited to see his game continue to grow in the coming years.”

The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that veteran goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky will not dress for tonight’s game against the Nashville Predators due to what is being described as an “incident”.

Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen stated the following:

“There are certain expectations and values that we have established for our players that define our culture. An incident occurred in which Sergei failed to meet those expectations and values, so we made the decision that he would not be with the team for tonight’s game. This is an internal matter and we will have no further comment at this time.”

In corresponding moves, the Blue Jackets has recalled Jean-Francois Berube, and placed both Brandon Dubinsky and Markus Hannikainen on injured reserve.