TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning return home in a 0-2 hole to the Florida Panthers in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Tampa Bay has seen this movie before. They came home down 0-2 to the New York Rangers in the 2022 playoffs, and they proceeded to rip off four straight wins to take the series.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper says this year's team is going to take a similar approach to the one that came back and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.
"We just played one-game series," Cooper said Wednesday afternoon. "And didn’t sit here and say, 'Oh my gosh, now we’re down two.' We’re not going to win two games tomorrow night. Just gotta win one."
The Bolts took Wednesday off after spending five straight days on the ice. Forward Brandon Hagel said it was an important chance for the team to debrief and catch their collective breath.
"I think we all know what we need to do in here at home," Hagel said Thursday. "I think everyone in that dressing room believes, and there’s no panic. We gotta just take care of business here."
Two players taking care of business in both games have been goaltenders Andrei Vasilevskiy and Sergei Bobrovsky.
Bobrovsky made one of the best saves in recent playoff history when he denied Tampa Bay's Matt Dumba an open-net goal in the second period of game two. Vasilevksiy's been equally impressive for the most part, and the series might boil down to which goalie blinks the least.
"You’re going to look at the highlight reel and see that [Bobrovsky save] from the second period, but it’s been two great goaltenders so far this series," said Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman. "Elite goaltending, and yeah, need more of that going forward from our side. And hopefully, we can get to their goalie a little bit more."
"They’re two of the best at their craft," Cooper added. "To watch these two guys… you should take pleasure in it because you’re not going see match-ups like this, goalie-wise, that often."
The puck drop for Game 3 is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday night at AMALIE Arena.
