One win from the Cup, Bolts are focused on ending series in Montreal

There's a lot to think about if you're a Tampa Bay Lightning player, coach or staff member right now.

You've been holed up in your Montreal hotel room for a fourth-straight day, unable to enjoy one of North America's greatest cities at an opportune time of year weather-wise because of restrictions in place by the National Hockey League akin to the bubble experience during the Bolts' run to the 2020 Stanley Cup.
The Lightning learned family and friends won't be allowed to travel to Montreal for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final because of the closed border between the United States and Canada.
There's a tropical storm churning in the Caribbean currently, Elsa expected to make landfall in or near Tampa sometime between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, which could complicate matters should the Canadiens force a Game 5 in the Cup Final series, that contest scheduled for Wednesday at 8 p.m. from Tampa's AMALIE Arena.
Oh, and there's also the small matter of the Lightning being on the verge of winning their second-straight Stanley Cup after breaking out to a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Tampa Bay can close out the Canadiens and sweep the series Monday at the Bell Centre.
But whatever's going on away from the rink, the Lightning aren't concerned about it. Those are distractions for others.
Right now, the Lightning are focused on the task at hand, which is winning one more game and becoming just the second team this century to go back-to-back, joining the 2016 and 2017 Pittsburgh Penguins, and the seventh franchise in the NHL's expansion era (since 1967-68) to do so.

"It's usually the teams that throughout a run that can kind of get rid of those distractions and the teams that aren't looking beyond the next game (that have success)," Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said. "I think for us, we've been in this position before. We understand the magnitude of the game and we understand that we really are, as much as it's cliché to say, we're focused on the start of next game. All those other things work themselves out. You never know what's going to happen in the course of a game or a series. We're focused on our start next game. We want to come out extremely hard. We realize, both teams understand the situation that they're in. We're excited for the challenge. All those things will take care of itself. A couple wrinkles with the situation that we're in here in Canada and the storm back home -- we want to make sure everyone's safe -- but at the same time this group is focused on the game."
The Lightning have been in this position before, both during last year's and this season's playoff runs, with a chance to close out a series. And they've been both successful and unsuccessful.
In 2020, they had the New York Islanders on the ropes up 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Semifinal but gave the Islanders life after a 2-1 double overtime loss in Game 5 and nearly had to go the distance before eliminating the Isles 2-1 in overtime of Game 6.
Same thing in the Cup Final versus Dallas. The Lightning led 3-1 in the series, missed out on a chance to take care of the Stars in Game 5, which came just a day after Game 4, losing 3-2 in double overtime, before shutting out the Stars 2-0 in Game 6 for the franchise's second Stanley Cup.
The Bolts missed opportunities in close-out games in Game 5 of the First Round at Florida and Game 6 in the Stanley Cup Semifinals at the Islanders in 2021 too.
Yanni Gourde said the team has learned from those past elimination game failures to stay in the present.

"Don't look too far ahead. Focus on the today, tomorrow we can focus on tomorrow," Gourde said of the Bolts' attitude heading into Game 4. "When you play your shift, just focus on the first shift. Try to win your shift. Don't look too far ahead and don't be too high or too low. Just stay in the middle."
For the first and only time in the Stanley Cup Final, the teams enjoyed two days off between games as opposed to the typical one day between every other game in the series. For the Lightning, that meant Saturday was a recovery day following a 6-3 victory in Game 3 Friday at the Bell Centre to bring them to within one game of lifting the Cup for a second-straight season. The Bolts held an optional practice on Sunday - Alex Killorn, who has missed the last two games, wasn't a participant but head coach Jon Cooper said he would update the media on his status Monday - to prepare for Game 4. Monday would be a business-like approach for the Bolts with the chance to become the first team to complete a Stanley Cup Final sweep since the Detroit Red Wings, led by former general manager Steve Yzerman, won four straight against the Washington Capitals in the 1998 Cup Final.
"It's been a little bit of an adjustment," Stamkos said about the extra day between Games 3 and 4. "We've been used to going every other day. Especially when you're in the position that we are, you just want to go out there and get on the ice and play. Again, being in the hotel, two days of not being able to leave has been an adjustment. We've got a great setup at the hotel. The guys, we love being around each other. Any time you can get a break from the physical side, guys will take it this time of year. Yesterday was a good day off for us, guys got some treatments, relaxed. Today, we get on the ice for the guys that wanted to go out there and get their legs going. Tomorrow we know the challenge in front of us."
Only one team in NHL history has rallied from a 0-3 deficit in the Stanley Cup Final and that was all the way back in 1942 when the Toronto Maple Leafs came back to defeat the Detroit Red Wings, coached by Jack Adams, whom the NHL names its coach of the year award after.
The Lightning sit in a supremely advantageous spot right now.
But they're not about to overlook their opponent when the chance for greatness is within reach.

"I don't think really our group has been that way," Stamkos said. "You're in the Stanley Cup Final. You're playing against a great team over there. We've said it from whether it's the First Round or the Stanley Cup Final, the fourth game is always the hardest to win. And that's the mentality we've had. Sometimes it takes four games. Sometimes seven. We expect that this group is going to be ready to play, and we expect that their group is going to be ready to play. No games are easy at this time of the year. I think for us, it's easy not to look past that. We know the difficulty of the Montreal Canadiens and what they bring to the table, and for us, it's another game. You worry about all that stuff after you've gone out there and put your best effort on the ice."
The Tampa Bay Lightning are hoping to cement their status as one of the all-time great teams in the NHL with one more win.
They've got four chances to get it.
They hope it comes Monday.
"Now it becomes like a legacy thing," Cooper said. "You talk about some of the great teams in a decade span, you'd hope that the Tampa Bay Lightning would be mentioned in that. You sit back and say, 'Man, look at what Chicago did, they won three in six. And look what L.A. did. Look what Pittsburgh did.' And you think back, multiple Cups, it gives you street cred for the guys, for the organization, shows what our ownership and management and everybody on the way down, the hard work they do and their values are paying off. And, ultimately, this second one, there's a long way to go, but we didn't have really an ability to share it with a fanbase that's been pretty damn loyal to us, who we care a ton for and they care for our team. If the chips fall our way and we can win, it'd be great to celebrate them with the way they deserve as opposed to some of the restrictions we had last year."