Lightning must show discipline as a frontrunner to succeed in Game 3
TAMPA, Fla. -- The favorites shuffled in and out of their dressing room Tuesday as the hunted instead of the ones chasing, their perspective changed and the questions different.
After a cliffhanger series against the Detroit Red Wings, when playing catch up became their norm, how will the Tampa Bay Lightning handle working from ahead?
"The guys will move on," defenseman Braydon Coburn said at Amalie Arena, as his team prepares to carry a 2-0 lead against the Montreal Canadiens into Game 3 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Wednesday. "Every one gets harder, and you demand a little bit more out of your team. And for us, we've got room for improvements."
Room to show something, too.
After never holding a lead in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals until winning Game 7, the Lightning find themselves in rare air. Their two-game cushion represents the largest postseason advantage in the Jon Cooper Era. Complacency, not Carey Price or P.K. Subban or anyone else in Montreal red, stands as their greatest challenge when the puck drops.
So consider this scenario another revealing window into the character of a team that has proven itself as scrappy and resilient throughout the postseason and the 82 games that came before. It's easy to muster the mental fuel necessary to swing back when the urgency is obvious, such as when facing a two-game hole or an elimination situation. But Tampa Bay finds itself in a comfort zone because of its impressive, if not surprising, displays throughout Games 1 and 2 in Montreal.
Still, only half the distance has been covered. The Lightning must apply pressure.
"We understand their desperation level," Cooper said. "And I think I'm not as much worried about Montreal's desperation level as ours. And I look back at the Detroit series, when we lost Game 1, and we played pretty well and lost a game. And we came back and played well in Game 2 and won. And we definitely were not our best in Game 3, and I think that's the young group here. So we're still trying to understand ... you can't take anything for granted. And the mere fact that we're at home, regardless of what our regular-season record was, it means nothing in Game 3 of the playoffs. To us, the series is 0-0. We've got to treat it like that."
Figures throughout sports talk like that, but human nature makes it difficult to wipe the reality of the situation completely from the mind. It's common, for example, to see a college football powerhouse play less disciplined in the second half after blowing out a cupcake opponent in the first. Or it's not rare for a baseball team to become sloppy late after building a 10-run lead by the third inning. Motivation can be lost in laughers, and execution suffers.
Yet the Lightning should treat their well-earned lead like jewelry to be protected from theft. No matter what voices from each dressing room say, Tampa Bay holds the greatest currency in this series with its psychological domination.
After all, there's no way a 0-7 mark against the Lightning this season has no effect on the Canadiens. There's no way two consecutive losses at the Bell Centre over the weekend, including the 6-2 stunner that silenced a crazed crowd Sunday in Game 2, doesn't leave a bruise on the brain of each Montreal skater.
This presents a different sort of test for Tampa Bay, though. The Lightning proved capable of rising to meet all the heat faced against the Red Wings. They showed they could crack Petr Mrazek. They showed they could overcome their offensive woes that led to a pair of shutout losses in the series. They showed they could take two consecutive games to close what had been a series filled with wild momentum swings. They grew as a result of it all.
Now they must display enough maturity to handle success. They've talked a solid game, with Cooper saying that they've proven nothing with a mere two victories. But their actions will speak loudest of all. This is the responsibility that comes with comfort.
"It doesn't matter if we're up 2-0 or even tied," center Tyler Johnson said. "You should be playing the same game, the same desperation. You're in the NHL playoffs. Any game can go any way. So you can't have that mentality. You have to have that mentality that every game is a must-win. And we're going to go into it tomorrow like that."
Certainly, Tampa Bay has lived on the opposite end of this equation before. Look back to last year when these teams met in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, and the Lightning responded with their best efforts of the series during losses in Games 3 and 4 at the Bell Centre. The Lightning know they'll face a wounded and hungry foe Wednesday.
Still, while most eyes will be fixed on the Canadiens to see how they respond, it's worth watching the Lightning's reaction as well. Often, the resilience needed as the hunter is easier to capture than the discipline required as the frontrunner.
The Lightning have earned their position. Now they must understand they've accomplished just half of what they desire.
You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.
