TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning are on the brink of elimination.
The three-time Eastern Conference defending champions trail the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs after back-to-back overtime losses at Amalie Arena.
The Bolts must-win Game 5 Thursday night in Toronto to keep their season alive.
"Listen, we got to go win one game," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "That's the focus right now. The fourth game is always the toughest. We've been on both sides. We're battle, improve on some things from the last couple of games, and get the series back here."
"It's a do-or-die game for us," Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli added. "This group, we know what we are capable of. We've been together for a long time. We got to win three, but it starts with one. Our mindset is to stick to our game plan, work hard, and be ready to go."
The Lightning blew out the Leafs 7-3 in game one; they dominated most of game three until the final minute and were ten minutes away from winning game four.
"If we're sitting here down 3-1 and we've been tattooed all series, now you're in a whole different mindset," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "We haven't felt that way. That's something to build on. You can't leave anything to chance now."
Tampa Bay's collapse in games three and four was uncharacteristic. This season, the Lightning were 28-1-2 when taking the lead into the third period.
"Scoring for us hasn't been the issue in this series," Cooper said. "It's been keeping the puck out of the net. That's the one thing that really doesn't take a whole lot of skill. It's a lot of determination and battles, and being in the right spots at the right time, and not cheating in your own zone."
The Bolts held one final practice Wednesday morning before leaving for Toronto.
Game 5 is on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Toronto.
