They have their reasons heading into Game 6 of the best-of-7 series, which will be played in Edmonton, the hub city for the Cup Final, on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, SN, TVAS).
"We were in this spot before in the last series," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "We had a 3-1 series] lead, and coincidentally we lost in overtime in that one too. We've felt this feeling before, we've felt this sting, and then we've rebounded."
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The Lightning were in position to win the Eastern Conference Final against the New York Islanders in five games, only to lose that Game 5 in nearly identical fashion, 2-1 in double overtime on Sept. 15. Tampa Bay won Game 6 in overtime two nights later.
The Lightning didn't panic then and showed no signs after this loss, knowing full well center Anthony Cirelli nearly gave them the lead with 4:15 remaining in the third period on a turnaround shot in the left circle that struck the goal post, and certainly not after they held the Stars to two shots on goal in the first overtime.
But they still need another win after the Stars extended their season when forward Corey Perry stuffed defenseman John Klingberg's rebound past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for his second of the game at 9:23 of the second overtime. That win would have to come without captain Steven Stamkos, who was ruled out for the remainder of the Cup Final on Saturday.
"We had some chances," Cirelli said. "Their goalie made some big saves. They battled the whole game, we battled all game. It was a tight one. A bounce went their way, and that's what it is. I think we're just focused and ready for the next one."
It was the first time in history the NHL has had overtime games in the Cup Final on consecutive days; the Lightning won 5-4 when defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk scored 6:34 into overtime in Game 4 on Friday.
Much like the conference final, the Lightning have played two games that have required longer than 60 minutes to determine a winner. They are 5-0 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in games that follow a loss.
"The big thing is to get some rest here," Cooper said. "Just in the end, you could see … I don't know; if that game went any longer, I don't know if there would have been any goals scored. I think both teams were pretty tired.
" … Anytime you lose a game in the playoffs, you're disappointed. But we've been pretty good at responding after losses. We've been doing this for over two months, so we've got a good idea of what's ahead of us and how to respond."
