BOSTON — Jon Cooper was asked after Game 3 what his team has done to turn around its series with the Boston Bruins.
“These guys Jaylon Smith Jersey , they just find a way,” the Tampa Bay coach said after a 4-1 road victory gave the Lightning a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal. “I guess in the end, they’re putting the team first, putting the team before self. That’s what’s going on right now.”
The Lightning, who captured the Atlantic Division and overall conference record by a point over the Bruins in the final days of the regular season, surrendered home-ice advantage with a 6-2 loss in the opener. But Wednesday night, they grabbed it back and can now establish a stranglehold on the series with a win in Game 4 on Friday night.
Wednesday was the 55th time the franchise played at TD Garden — and became just its 10th win. But that historical stat seems to mean nothing to this team, which is now 6-2 in the playoffs.
“I think the same thing we did the game before and what I felt a lot of the game before that,” Cooper said of the Game 3 performance. “We’re in a playoff series and we’re playing like that. We’re skating. We’re physically engaged. They’re just playing responsible. That’s what they’re doing.”
Ondrej Palat, who scored twice in the first 3:19 of the game, was not on the ice for practice at the Bruins’ practice facility Thursday, but there was no report. Ryan Callahan, who has played such a strong two-way game in the series, took Palat’s spot on the power play in practice.
Palat’s early outburst marked the fastest two goals by the same player at the start of a playoff game since 1996.
Boston’s Brad Marchand and Jake DeBrusk rested on “maintenance days” Thursday and are apparently not totally healthy. Coach Bruce Cassidy said they will be evaluated Friday morning.
There was also a very good chance that rookie Ryan Donato could be among those added to the mix as Cassidy looks to “tinker” with his lineup.
“They were maintenance days, so we’ll see how they are in the morning. I assume they’ll be fine tomorrow (for Game 4) Nathan Peterman Jersey , but we’ll see then,” Cassidy said. “We’ll assess them in the morning, and we’ll probably tinker (with the lineup), but I’m not going to tell you who is going in or out now because we’ve got to get the healthy guys sorted out first, and then we’ll go from there.”
After Wednesday’s game, the coach said, “We need to defend better, and part of that is intensity. My estimation, urgency, pick you word. We didn’t have it. You’ve got to manage the puck first, and then once you don’t have it anymore, you’ve got to have a certain level of structure and urgency to get it back, and we didn’t.
“As the game went along, I think the will is there with the group; I don’t doubt that. They’re trying to be physical; they’re trying to play hard, but at the end of the day we made some mistakes in front of our net.
“We’ve got to get back to Cornelius Lucas Jersey , OK, what made us successful and play smart hockey, and the intensity will come. The group has a lot of will. I think we put one in front of the other, forgot to play a little bit.”
Yanni Gourde became the second Lightning player to enjoy the birth of a child during the playoffs. Gourde’s baby girl was born Tuesday. He made it to Boston in time for the Wednesday morning skate and had an assist in the win.
Steven Stamkos scored his first goal of the series Wednesday. It was into an empty net, but the Lightning have to feel good about their best player and captain hitting the score sheet. It was his second goal in eight playoff games, but he has five assists.
Alex Ovechkin is thrilled, though hardly satisfied.
The Washington Capitals star is headed to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in his 13-year career, eager to put more distance between the Eastern Conference champions and a lingering perception of Ovechkin and the Caps as playoff underachievers.
”Finally we get what we want, be in the Stanley Cup Final,” the 32-year-old Russian star said. ”There’s still a lot of hockey to play.”
Ovechkin scored just over a minute into Washington’s 4-0 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final Wednesday night.
Braden Holtby stopped 29 shots to notch his second straight shutout. Andre Burakovsky scored two goals, and Nicklas Backstrom added an empty-netter to help the Capitals close it out.
Now, they’ve got to do it again against the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, who are Western Conference champions in their inaugural season.
”I feel very happy, but we’re not finished yet,” Ovechkin said. ”We’ve been waiting for this moment a long time.”
The Golden Knights breezed through the Western Conference Stephen Curry Jersey , scoring 43 goals and allowing 27 while going 12-3 to eliminate the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks and Winnipeg Jets during an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Vegas went 2-0 against the Capitals in the regular season, winning 3-0 at home on Dec. 23 and 4-3 at Washington on Feb. 4.
”It’s a great story. They’re a good hockey team, they have a lot of good players, players from other teams – I know a lot of people say we didn’t want those players, but we all did,” Capitals coach Barry Trotz said.
”The rules were the rules. They did a great job, they’ve been galvanized as a group. There’s nothing tighter than that first-year group because there’s no pre-conceived notion. Leadership’s not in place, nobody knows where to live, all those things are galvanizing.”
The Golden Knights’ top scorer during the playoffs has been former Lightning forward Jonathan Marchessault with 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists). Alex Tuch is second among league rookies with nine points (six goals, three assists).
Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who’s in the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight season and fifth time overall, has been a huge part of the team’s success, too Sean Lee Jersey , with a 1.68 goals-against-average and .947 save percentage.
Fleury and teammate James Neal return to the Cup Final after facing each other in the championship round last year – Fleury with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Neal with the Nashville Predators.
”They’re deep. They’re probably the most veteran team still playing in the playoffs. But they’ve done a fabulous job,” Trotz said. ”They’re a fabulous story. … It’s a great story, not only for our game, but for everybody.”
To reach the Cup Final for the first time since 1998, the Caps beat Tampa Bay three times on the road to run their record to 8-2 away from home this postseason.
The Lightning, the NHL’s highest-scoring team during the regular season, didn’t have a goal over the final 159 minutes, 27 seconds of the series.
Ryan Callahan had Tampa Bay’s last goal at 33 seconds of the second period in Game 5.
”It’s fun. I’m more happy for that group than I am personally,” Trotz said. ”They did it together. Everybody has been in all year. We kept growing on and off the ice.”
And shoving aside a decade of playoff frustration.
”The playoffs are fun,” Trotz added. ”They got to the next level and realized they’re not going to be defined by anything they’ve done or not done in the past.”
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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed to this story.
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