Lightning don't consider themselves underdogs against Maple Leafs

TAMPA -- The Tampa Bay Lightning may have lost eight of their final 12 regular-season games, but they are ready to turn it on in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"We're represented the Eastern Conference for three straight years and we plan on doing it a fourth," coach Jon Cooper said Monday. "We have some different players and will have to do it some different ways, but we have a core group there that wants to keep this train rolling."
Tampa Bay will head into the Eastern Conference First Round against the Toronto Maple Leafs as underdogs despite reaching the Cup Final the past three seasons and winning the Cup in 2020 and 2021. Game 1 is Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SNE, SNO, SNP, TVAS, BSSUN).
The series is a rematch from the first round from last season, which the Lightning won in seven games. Each team looks a little different; Tampa Bay no longer has playoff stalwarts like forward Ondrej Palat and defenseman Ryan McDonagh, and the Maple Leafs added players with a Stanley Cup on their resumes in center Ryan O'Reilly and defenseman Luke Schenn, among others.
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"It's going to be different without those guys for sure," Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said. "But we've had to put that behind us and we've had 82 games without them. Now we have to go on a postseason run and we've very excited about it, the new guys are very excited about it. It's going to be fun."
The new guys include rookie defensemen Nick Perbix and Darren Raddysh, who will each make their playoff debut Tuesday. Forward Tanner Jeannot, who was acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators on March 2, wasn't expected to play in this series because of a lower-body injury, but he returned to practice Monday.
Cooper hinted Jeannot could be a factor as the series moves forward.
"We were anticipating [his return] was going to happen at some point, but definitely not this early," Cooper said. "He's definitely not going in Game 1, but what went from week to week has been trimmed down to day to day."
The Lightning are arguably the most accomplished team in the NHL since 2015. During that time they have won the Stanley Cup twice, reached the Cup Final four times (2015, 2020, 2021, 2022) and reached the Eastern Conference Final six times.
But all great runs eventually come to an end. The Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the Cup in 2016 and 2017, will miss the postseason for the first time since 2007. Tampa Bay, however, is in the playoffs, and captain Steven Stamkos isn't ready to embrace an underdog role. The outside noise, he said, is irrelevant, especially for a group that has a history of winning this time of year.

"I don't know who you're asking, if it's the media or other players, we haven't given a [damn] about that in three years," Stamkos said. "Whatever people want to say about our group, we've got to go out and perform. We're still the three-time defending Eastern Conference champions, so we've got to go out and prove why we've had a lot of success in the playoffs with this group."
As tough as last year's series was -- Toronto led 3-2 in games and had a 3-2 lead in the third period of Game 6 before Tampa Bay rallied to win it in overtime and then win Game 7 in Toronto -- Cooper believes the Maple Leafs are a much better team this season.
"The Leafs are going to be a problem," Cooper said. "They are a heck of a team. Two teams that know each other well. I would expect a heck of a series, especially with the star power that both teams produce. To be the best you have to beat some of the best teams in the League. The Leafs are one of them."
If the Lightning are ready to concede anything, Cooper hasn't seen it and didn't see it during a high-energy practice Monday at Amalie Arena.
"Until somebody gets us, we're the team that wants to be on top," Cooper said. "And we're going to do everything we can to stay on top."