Lightning ‘haven’t won anything yet’ entering Game 7 of Eastern 1st Round

TAMPA -- Jon Cooper didn't want to dampen the mood after the Tampa Bay Lightning forced a Game 7 in the Eastern Conference First Round against the Montreal Canadiens.

However, the coach wanted to reiterate to his players they still have a lot of work to do in the last game of the series at Benchmark International Arena on Sunday (6 p.m. ET; The Spot, HBO MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).

The Lightning extended the best-of-7 series with a 1-0 overtime win in Game 6 at Bell Centre in Montreal on Friday.

"In the locker room after the game, sure guys were pumped, but we haven't won anything yet," Cooper said. "All we did was win a game to send this back to Tampa and keep our season alive.

“You don't want to rain on the parade, because what a hell of a win by the guys. But we haven't accomplished anything yet. We've just pushed a game."

The Lightning have fared well in win-or-go-home situations since Cooper arrived in 2013. Tampa Bay is 4-2, including 2-1 at home, in Game 7s during his tenure as coach. Tampa Bay has won its past two, including 2-1 at the Toronto Maple Leafs in a 2022 first-round series, and 1-0 here against the New York Islanders in the 2021 conference finals.

All six games in this series have been decided by one goal and four have required overtime with each team winning twice in the extra period. Gage Goncalves won Game 6 at 9:03.

"It's been unreal, to be honest; we both had 106 points coming into this series," said Tampa Bay forward Brandon Hagel, who has eight points (six goals, two assists) in six games. "They're a really, really good hockey team over there and we're a really, really good hockey team here.

“I don't think we expected anything else other than what's been going on here. They've got everything over there and we think we've got everything over here."

The Lightning are looking to avoid being eliminated in the first round for a fourth straight season since reaching the Cup Final in 2022 after back-to-back championships. Montreal hasn't advanced past the first round since reaching the Cup Final in 2021, where it lost to Tampa Bay in five games.

Hagel added that while momentum hasn't carried over from game-to-game, this version of the Lightning might've learned something about themselves by keeping their season alive in a hostile environment.

"Obviously, I think you can learn a lot from games like this, especially the young guys on this team," Hagel said. "It's a tough situation to be a part of, but you learn from those situations. Going into the next game, it's obviously the biggest game a lot of us have played in a long time and I'm excited for it.

“These are the moments you live for and it's just part of the story, so let's keep writing it."

Tampa Bay has experience on its side with many of its top players having played in Game 7s and experiencing each side of it. 

But they’ll need to be better at home, where they are 2-9 in their past 11 playoff games.

“This is what we all dream about," Lightning forward Jake Guentzel said. "I've been fortunate to play in a couple and there's just nothing better, especially at home.

“It's going to be an electric atmosphere and we obviously can't wait."