The next 48 hours promise to be grueling for the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers, who will play two games in as many days, Sunday and Monday, at Amalie Arena.
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This rather unusual situation in the playoffs is due to a music concert, which will take place in the Lightning amphitheater on Saturday. This also means that both teams have enjoyed an extra day of rest between the second and third match.
“I’m sure that every team will benefit from the rest, because it’s hard to play two games in two days, even if one of them [le troisième], takes place in the afternoon, said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper at a press conference on Saturday. It catches up to you pretty quickly, so it’s good to have some rest before that.”
The Lightning will, however, come before their fans with less pressure on their shoulders than their Florida rivals, who have lowered their flag in each of their games at the FLA Live Arena, which has seen them trail 2-0 in this season. series. Nonetheless, head coach Andrew Brunette’s men are holding their heads high.
“We know it’s possible and it has to start with that way of thinking,” added defender Aaron Ekblad. You have seen [les Rangers de] New York draw back 1-3 [dans leur série de premier tour contre les Penguins de Pittsburgh], which is relatively similar to 0-2, and even more taxing. It’s 2-0, we’re facing adversity and we’re confident we can play a strong game tomorrow [dimanche].”
“It won’t be easy and no one is saying otherwise, it’s playoff hockey. The difficulty is what makes it fun, supported Sam Bennett. We know it will be difficult, but we are ready to put in the effort.”
The importance of special units
You don’t need to do extensive digging to explain the reason for the Panthers’ recent failures. The latter have not hit the target once in 25 opportunities on the power play during these series. In two games against the Lightning, they came up empty in seven attempts.
Credit must also be given to the Lightning’s penalty kill, which silenced the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, with an 85.7% save percentage. With recent success against their Florida rivals, Jon Cooper’s men have boosted that percentage to 88.6%, fourth best on the Bettman circuit, behind the Washington Capitals (100%), the Dallas Stars ( 91.7%) and the Calgary Flames (91.2%).
“You need good chemistry between the two attackers and our defenders are blocking shots on plays that could have been goals,” agreed Alex Killorn. We have a system with some gray areas, but it’s mostly black or white.”
Always without Point
It is obviously without Brayden Point that the Lightning will begin this streak of two games in two days. Asked about the state of health of his striker, Cooper was evasive, mentioning that he was “virtually certain” to miss Sunday’s game.
Even in the long term, should the streak continue, the 26-year-old skater’s return to play seems uncertain. “We’ll see,” he said simply.