After dubbing themselves the "Tampa Bay Find-a-ways" earlier in the season, they did it again Thursday in a 3-1 win against the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final at Madison Square Garden.
Ondrej Palat revived his role as a late-game hero when defenseman Mikhail Sergachev's point shot deflected in off his kneecap with 1:50 remaining in regulation to break the tie. Palat also got the winning goal in Game 3 on Sunday, scoring with 41.6 seconds remaining to give Tampa Bay a 3-2 victory.
Add in Ross Colton's winning goal with 3.8 seconds left in a 2-1 victory in Game 2 of the second round against the Florida Panthers, and that's three times in these Stanley Cup Playoffs that the Lightning have scored the game-winner in the final two minutes of regulation.
"That's three huge moments in the playoffs, where we found a way at the end of the game," captain Steven Stamkos said. "So, it's just for the most part, especially when you come into an atmosphere like this on the road, the mentality is just do whatever it takes to win."
That formula has helped the Lightning win the Stanley Cup the past two seasons and reel off three straight victories against the Rangers to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series. Game 6 is Saturday at Tampa (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS).
RELATED: [Complete Rangers vs. Lightning series coverage]
But with its experience, Tampa Bay is smart enough not to look ahead to a date with the Western Conference champion Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final just yet.
The Lightning are fully aware that they still have some work to do to finish off the Rangers, who are 5-0 when facing elimination in the playoffs this season. They know they need to maintain their focus to close out this series in the same way they've been closing out games.
"We expect their best game of the playoffs, but we expect ourselves to be at that level too," defenseman Victor Hedman said. "We've been successful when we've had the opportunity to eliminate teams, and now we have the chance again going back home. But we're not going to hang our hat that we're going home. We've got to execute like we have in previous games."
On Thursday, that meant playing a near-perfect road game against a team that had won its past eight games at home, with its only loss in the Stanley Cup Playoffs coming in triple overtime in Game 1 of the first round against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Rangers fed off the energy of their crowd to win the first two games against the Lightning. But after getting back to playing a patient, defensive-minded game to even the series with two home wins of their own, Tampa Bay continued to play the same way Thursday on the road.
"It's defend until the end, and we've got some guys that can make some plays and you never know when it's going to come," Stamkos said. "I think that's some experience certainly. You can lean on that, that you never know when that moment is going to be in the game and don't push for it, don't go out of your way to try to make something happen."
