Lightning watch - and wait - for next playoff opponent

For now, all the Tampa Bay Lightning can do is sit back and watch like the rest of us.
The Lightning know they're in the second round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. They know their next opponent will either be the Boston Bruins, who have home-ice advantage for Game 7 of their opening round series against Toronto, or the Maple Leafs, who have rallied from a 3-1 deficit to force said Game 7. They know Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series will be Saturday.
The only thing the Lightning don't know is which team will move through and what time that second round series begins (3 p.m. if it's Boston; 8 p.m. if Toronto advances).
So, like everybody else in the hockey world, they'll be glued to their televisions (or smart phones) for Wednesday night's Game 7 to find out the answer to both questions.

"That's the fun thing about the playoffs: When you're not playing, you can watch the other teams," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said following Bolts' practice at AMALIE Arena Tuesday, their first day of on-ice preparation for the Eastern Conference Semifinals. "It's the best hockey you're going to watch."

Right now, the Lightning are happy to watch. After grinding out a win in the opening round over the New Jersey Devils in five games, the Lightning have had the luxury of resting the past two days, relaxing the body and the mind while their two potential future opponents continue to beat up on one another. After Toronto defeated Boston in Game 6 on Monday to force a winner-take-all Game 7, the Lightning will get a couple more days to recover, the earliest start date for their second round series coming Friday. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper revealed had Boston won Game 6 on Monday, the Lightning and the Bruins might have started their second round series as early as Wednesday night.
Now the Lightning will get at least two more days of rest, which is welcomed by everybody despite the potential of rust setting in from the long layoff.
"Anytime you can kind of just step away, especially after, people look at the series against the Devils and say, 'Well, it was five games. It went quick,' but that's not how it feels when you're in the trenches," Cooper said. "It's a grind every day and you're trying to poke holes in the other team and plug holes that they've found in you. And the guys are battling. And so, you get that little extra time off, it's a good thing. The one thing is you can't have too much off because the competition and the atmosphere and the adrenaline is so high in these games, you don't want to step completely out of it. But today was a good step forward for getting that back."
The Lightning held their first full on-ice practice following their first round dispatch of the Devils on Tuesday at AMALIE Arena. Everybody skated for the Bolts, except Adam Erne, who continues to nurse a lower-body injury and has yet to make an appearance in these playoffs.

"You've got to stay sharp," said Lightning forward Chris Kunitz, who has more experience than anyone dealing with the playoff grind having won four Stanley Cups in his career, including the last two with the Pittsburgh Penguins. "Everybody knows how important this time of year is, but we had two days off just because of how the schedule worked. We've got to make sure we come to work every day and try to keep that tempo and pace high because every time in playoffs it seems to get harder and faster and more difficult to execute during a game because everything's just elevated and the pressure of the game and the time of the game and what's important, if it's in the first shift or whatever. So we have to duplicate that when we're practicing. We have to make sure we're not going through the motions. We've got to go out there and keep working to get better."
Added Stamkos: "I think at this time of year you take the rest when you can. Guys are obviously banged up and anytime you can have this time, I think we'd rather have that. At the same time, you're in the middle of the most intense hockey of the year, so you do want to get back out there and play. I think at this time of the year, you'd just rather play than practice anyway. We'll work on a few things and we've got some time to prepare. We'll see the results and then start preparing for the team we're going to play."
No matter who wins between the Bruins and the Maple Leafs on Wednesday, the Lightning know they'll have their work cut out for them in the second round.
"When you look back, they both have over 100 points," Cooper said. "Boston, as we well know, were a point behind us in the standings. They're really good teams. You can just see the competitive level of both of them, especially as (Game 6) started to get close at the end. So regardless who we play, it's going to be tough."