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.
