Setting up the Tampa Bay-New York Eastern Conference Final

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said he ran into "half the Golden Knights team" as he checked into the hotel in the Edmonton bubble Saturday after spending the previous 41 nights in Toronto.
On the way to his room, he rode the elevator with members of the Dallas Stars.
"That's stuff that just doesn't happen," Cooper said about the uniqueness of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, where the final four teams - Tampa Bay, the New York Islanders, Dallas and Vegas -- share an Edmonton hotel, practice and play at the same rinks and see each other frequently when traversing between the two. "We've also done it for 40-plus days, so everybody's pretty much used to it by now.
"But It is a unique experience for sure."
As much as this postseason has been a completely different experience for the Lightning, there will be a familiarity on the ice Monday night as Tampa Bay begins its Eastern Conference Final series against the New York Islanders Game 1. The Islanders play a structured, defense-first style of hockey that is akin to what the Lightning saw from Columbus in the First Round and, to a lesser extent, Boston in the Second Round.

The Islanders play it better, however, better than pretty much anyone in the National Hockey League.
They're are allowing just 1.94 goals per game in the postseason, the fewest of the four remaining teams and second fewest among all 2020 Playoff teams.
Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said the Isles are dangerous because they roll four lines, get contributions up and down their lineup and have a strong defense, particularly in front of the net.
"They've definitely bought into a system that always gives them a chance to win," McDonagh said. "It's a simple brand of hockey. It's a tough brand of hockey as an opponent against them. And there's no free passes with anybody out there. Every shift is going to be huge. Every scenario, situation, special teams is going to be huge. They've got great leaders, great experience on that team and some youth mixed in as well. Like I said many times, it's a tough opponent. They're here for a reason. They've earned it. They're really rallying as a team. You can see it. It's going to be a tough test right from Game 1."
Victor Hedman said the Islanders have skill up front with Brock Nelson, Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier, and Mathew Barzal is a special talent who "is a little bit different than the other guys."
"Barzal can turn you inside out if you don't have a good gap on him," Hedman said. "We've got to make it hard on those guys to get to the net and get entry into our zone. I think that's what made us successful in the previous two rounds is we didn't give too much time and space to the opponents. We've got to have the same mindset going into this series, make it hard for them to gain entries into our zone.
Cooper said the key to defeating a structured, disciplined team is to remain structured and disciplined yourself. The Lightning did just that in taking out Columbus and Boston in five games in the first two rounds of the playoffs. Every time their opponent made a push, the Bolts have absorbed it and then countered with one of their own.
The Lightning are making the smart plays on the ice that win playoff games. They're protecting their own net and generating offense by getting inside their opponent net-front in search of rebound or scramble opportunities. If the Bolts want to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in franchise history, they'll need to continue that mentality against an Islanders team that can frustrate as much as any.
"It's all between the ears. You've got to have a will to go there. I don't care how good you are defending, if the other team's got a will to go there as well, there should be a pretty good battle there," Cooper said about the Islanders' ability to keep the opponent from getting net-front. "The Islanders have been pretty renowned for their defensive structure and play, but we've been pretty battle-tested ourselves having to go against Columbus and Boston. It should be just much of the same. It's going to be battles in front of the net."
The Islanders might have an advantage at the start of the series having closed out their Second Round series against Philadelphia on Saturday and rolling straight into the next round, their schedule of playing every other day continuing unimpeded.
The Lightning, however, had a week of rest beating Boston in the Second Round and the start of the Eastern Conference Final. That might lead to a slow beginning for the Bolts -- although practices this week were fast-paced and structured according to players to avoid starting sluggishly -- but it should serve them well as the series continues. While the Lightning were resting, the Islanders failed to capitalize on two chances to put the Flyers away and needed seven games to make it to the final four.
New York defeated Florida in four games in a best-of-five Qualifying Round series and beat the Washington Capitals in five games in the First Round. The Lightning have played only 13 games this postseason compared to the Islanders 16, three of Tampa Bay's contests coming in the Round Robin, which didn't offer quite the same level of intensity as a do-or-die playoff series.
The extra wear and tear on New York from playing one more playoff series to make it to the Eastern Conference Final should give the Lightning an advantage the deeper the series goes.
"We had a week off. We get to rest our bodies a little bit, but also we know Islanders are in game shape so we have to be focused for that start for that first game and make sure we're ready," Ondrej Palat said. "I think we did a good job this week to practice. We had a couple days off, but we also practiced and we had some good practices.
"We're going to be ready."