Lightning resolute facing elimination again in Game 6 of Cup Final

DENVER --The Tampa Bay Lightning boarded their flight home Saturday, undoubtedly weary from another long grind during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but grateful they have at least one more game to play, and hopefully another after that.

The Lightning will face elimination for the fourth time this postseason in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Colorado Avalanche at Amalie Arena on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS). But Tampa Bay's resolve has not wavered in its quest to win the Stanley Cup for the third straight season.
If anything, it has become stronger after the Lightning tightened the gap in the best-of-7 series to 3-2 with a 3-2 victory in Game 5 at Colorado on Friday. Staring down the end of their season tied 2-2 in the third period, with the Avalanche having a chance to win the Stanley Cup at home, the Lightning survived again with forward Ondrej Palat scoring the winning goal with 6:22 remaining.
"I do have to marvel at what's gone on and how many times you can be kicked and get back off the mat," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said Saturday. "It's not always the game situations. It's the injuries and the blocked shots and the gamesmanship and all those things that kind of just needle you to go away. Just like little gnats, like 'OK, go. It's OK. It's OK if you back down now. You've won. You've done it.' And that's why I think teams don't keep repeating, because it's easy to walk away.
"These guys won't do it, and it's something to marvel."
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The Lightning dealt with their share of adversity in winning the Cup the past two seasons.
In 2020, it was playing in the bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton, isolated from family, friends and the fans for two months because of the coronavirus pandemic. Last season, it was trying to become the second team in the NHL salary cap era to repeat (joining the 2016 and 2017 Pittsburgh Penguins), again under the shadow of COVID-19 restrictions.
But in a way, Tampa Bay made those runs look easy.
The worst hole the Lightning had to overcome in a series in either postseason was 1-0 (three times) and they faced elimination once, in Game 7 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Semifinals against the New York Islanders, and won 1-0.
This postseason has been far more challenging.
Tampa Bay's three-peat bid nearly ended in the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs when it fell behind 3-2 in that best-of-7 series before coming from behind for a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 6 and winning 2-1 in Game 7. After sweeping the Florida Panthers in the second round, the Lightning lost the first two games of the conference final against the New York Rangers and rallied to win in six games.
The Lightning also lost the first two games of the Cup Final to the Avalanche and fell behind 3-1 in the series with a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 4 on Wednesday, but rebounded again to win Friday.
"This is definitely a lot more adversity, a little bit more situations with our back against the wall," Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "But testing our character, I know that's been tested enough over the years and even during the season this year. So there's no questioning that. And testing our ability to trust the system, I think we've been tested there throughout the year too and in years past.
"So I don't know if I've learned anything more about the group other than the fact that we've proved to ourselves if we do our jobs out there and we trust the coaching staff, it gives us a good chance to win."
After the Lightning won the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's top team during the regular season in 2018-19 and were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the playoffs, there were questions about their ability to perform under postseason pressure. Those seem silly now after they have repeatedly demonstrated their championship mettle when, as Cooper said, it would have been easy for them to be satisfied.
"We've got some warriors on this team and it's pretty impressive," Tampa Bay forward Patrick Maroon said. "That's it. Nothing really to say about that. It's impressive."
That won't change if Colorado wins Game 6 or Game 7 and ends Tampa Bay's dream of lifting the Cup again. But in attempting to become the second team to come back from being down 3-1 in the Cup Final and win (joining the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs), the Lightning have the quiet calm of champions who have faced all challengers and aren't ready for their season to end.
After playing 70 playoff games over the past three seasons -- the most in a three-season span in NHL history -- they might as well play two more and finish the job.
"It's experience," Cooper said. "It's like I always say, you can go to the driver's school or whatever and you can write the test and get an A, but it doesn't mean when you jump behind the wheel you're a hell of a driver. Experience matters, and I think for us, this experience for our team and our staff matters.
"And hey, not guaranteeing we're going to win tomorrow, but I think our mindset and being in these situations before makes our preparation better."