“It’s not how many you put in the net, it’s how many you keep out,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after a 2-1 win against the New York Islanders in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals at Nassau Coliseum on Thursday.
“It just goes to show the maturity of the group that we have,” Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said.
“But I think part of it too is we’ve been down this road before and guys when you need them in big moments they’re showing up.
On Thursday, Yanni Gourde made it 1-0 at 10:05 of the first period.
We have a one-goal lead going into the third period of a playoff game, we know what we have to do and we’ve done it time and time again.
The Lightning won the Stanley Cup playing at neutral sites last season, so road games weren’t part of the process.
It was a hard lesson after the Lightning had success on the road reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2015 and the conference final in 2016 and 2018.
There is a recipe to it, and when they adhere to the plan, the players have to execute it and those are the guys that go out there and do it.
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