When they begin the Eastern Conference Final is unclear with the series between the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes going until at least Saturday and possibly Monday. Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said he wasn't sure how the layoff will impact the team.
"It's nice to get some rest, but I don't know, you can look at it a couple of ways," Stamkos said. "We've got a long time in between series, and you've got some guys that are banged up, so it's going to be nice for them to get healed up.
"On the other hand, you're just so used to playing every other day and you're in that groove and that's nice too. So, you pick your poison there."
The Lightning, who are trying to win the Stanley Cup for a third straight season, are awaiting the winner of the best-of-7 series between the Hurricanes and Rangers. Carolina can advance with a victory in Game 6 at New York on Saturday.
Tampa Bay forwards Brayden Point (lower body) and Brandon Hagel (body maintenance) did not attend practice. The Lightning had no immediate update on the status of either player. Point hasn't skated since being injured in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Assistant Jeff Halpern said the coaches are looking to their championship run in 2020, which came after a four-month break between the regular season and Stanley Cup Playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We're trying to draw on some of the experience in the past, especially that COVID camp," Halpern said. "It feels a little bit like that where you have probably a week. I don't if there's really a recipe for it."
"I know going into that one we talked to some junior teams that take time off before the Memorial Cup and how they went about it."
But on Thursday, it was simply important to get on the ice and start skating together again.
"It's hard to replicate the intensity of playoff games for sure," Halpern said. "For the scrimmages, we have numbers and it gets our guys up and down the ice. That's probably the biggest thing."
Stamkos and defenseman Victor Hedman are the two players left from the last time the Lightning had a long period in between series. In 2011, they completed a four-game sweep of the Washington Capitals on May 4 and did not start the Eastern Conference Final against the Boston Bruins until May 14. Tampa Bay won Game 1 but lost the series in seven games.
"It's a lot of the same," Stamkos said. "You can only do so many drills during practice and add in a light scrimmage. You're not really expecting this much time off at this time of year."
Halpern said the Lightning will start to ramp things up as the start of the next round gets closer.
"Obviously the intensity of our practices will pick up as we go toward our first game," he said. "But I think it's good if you're going to go seven days, nine days in between games just to get up and down the ice like that."
