Then came the disaster that was Monday.
The Lightning lost 5-0 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round, their most lopsided postseason loss since the 1996 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, when they lost 6-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6.
It was a sloppy, unacceptable performance according to coach Jon Cooper, and most of it was self-inflicted.
However, Cooper doesn't think that will happen again in Game 2 on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN2, CBC, SN, TVAS, BSSUN).
"The mood today is much different than it was last night," he said. "You build on things you have in the past.
"Last night was ugly, let's make no bones about it. But this isn't the first time we've lost a Game 1 and won the series, so it's not ideal, but it's not like it's uncharted waters either."
In 2020, the Lightning lost 3-2 to the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round before rebounding to win the next four. They then lost 4-1 to the Dallas Stars in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final before winning the series in six games.
Last season, Tampa Bay lost 2-1 to the New York Islanders in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals but won the series in seven games.
In fact, in the past two postseasons, the Lightning are 13-0 following a loss.
But in order for Tampa Bay to keep that streak going, it'll need to start finding more production from a power play that went 0-for-5 on Monday, which included allowing a shorthanded goal and failing to capitalize early on a five-minute man-advantage after Kyle Clifford was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding Ross Colton at 6:59.
"Let's call it for what it was," Cooper said. "We gave up a shorty. Just on that (five-minute) power play alone we got outchanced (4-1) … so to me, that's an aberration. Hope it is anyway. And we didn't take advantage of a situation that was presented to us and Toronto did, so good on them.
"It was a weird game last night, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
The Lightning made one tweak to their second power-play unit at practice Tuesday, inserting forward Nicholas Paul for forward Pat Maroon.
Still, Cooper said Tampa Bay's issues run deeper than the power play.
"Yes, you're playing another team and yes, Toronto took advantage of mistakes. But they were our mistakes," he said. "I know we didn't score on any of that stuff, but boy, did we make it easy on them.
"So maybe if we change our game and do a few more of what our identity is, maybe it's a different result."
Part of Tampa Bay's identity is the goaltending of Andrei Vasilevskiy, who won the Vezina Trophy in 2019 and the Conn Smythe Trophy voted as most valuable player of the playoffs in 2021. But Vasilevskiy, who posted the lowest save percentage (.916) of his NHL career since he became Tampa Bay's No. 1 in 2016-17, was beaten five times on 32 shots in Game 1 and was booed by the Scotiabank Arena crowd every time he touched the puck in the latter stages of the third period.
Despite the shaky performance, Cooper has no issues with the play of his highly decorated goaltender.
"'Vasy's' the man," he said. "No other man I'd want back there."
His teammates agree, noting how Vasilevskiy addressed the team after the game and left a lasting impression.
"He wasn't bothered," Lightning forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said. "Obviously, you don't want to lose the game, but at the end of the day, you know it's about playoffs. It's not about this game. We have to understand there's another one coming quick."
So what was the goaltender's directive to his teammates?
"He said we have to understand what happened and to focus for the next one coming up," Bellemare said.
By the end of Game 2, it should be obvious if the message hit home.
