Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper says it is hard to believe his team has been knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs in the first round the past three years.

But it is true — and he knows it.

Speaking to the media ahead of today’s Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens in Tampa, Cooper said it is something they have even talked about as the season has gone on.

“It’s weird that it doesn’t feel like it’s been three years since we have won a series, but it has been three years,” Cooper said on Saturday after his team’s final prep before the playoffs begin. “It just doesn’t feel like that. But I do know this year had a different theme to it about wanting to get here and to make a run.

”But that doesn’t guarantee you anything. What we want to do is get here, and see what happens. Does it come up during that year that we haven’t advanced? There’s no question it has come up. It can be used a motivation, yes, but it doesn’t guarantee how we do.”

The Lightning, certainly, have plenty of championship pedigree in their room with players like Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, Anthony Cirelli, Ryan McDonagh, and Erik Cernak.

Tampa Bay is a team that has been through it a lot over the years, with Cooper pointing out not all of their shared experiences have been good ones.

Yes, the Lightning won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back years from 2020-21, but they were also knocked out in the 2022 Final by the Colorado Avalanche.

There was the first-round sweep to Sergei Bobrovsky and the Blue Jackets in 2019.

And now there is this.

Since losing to the Avalanche in 2022, the Lightning were knocked out in Round 1 by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2023, then lost in 5 to the rival Florida Panthers in 2024 and 2025.

The Panthers, of course, won the Cup in those years.

Either the Lightning or Panthers have played in the Stanley Cup Final the past six years: Tampa Bay went from 2020-22, Florida from 2023-25.

“They’ve been through Game 7 heartbreaks in conference finals,” Cooper said. “They’ve been through being swept. … But they’ve also been through Cups, being to four Finals, that whole wave of ups-and-downs.’’

Tampa Bay will be without captain Victor Hedman at least to start this series after he left the team for personal reasons on March 25.

He has been around the team, Cooper said, and may return soon.

That, certainly, would be a great addition to the Lightning in its quest to beat a very good Canadiens team that fought Tampa Bay throughout the season and ended up tied in points with 106 apiece.

As Cooper points out, the Lightning have home ice advantage because it won 40 games in regulation compared to Montreal’s 34.

The Canadiens have come out of a total rebuild since losing to the Lightning in the Covid-realigned 2021 Stanley Cup Final.

Montreal has a young, fast team that will certainly try and use its unique home-ice advantage to its advantage when the series turns to the Bell Centre for Game 3.

The Lightning, who went 0-2 against the Panthers at home last year before winning Game 3 to at least force a return to Tampa, cannot afford a slow start in this series.

Not if they hope to get out of the first round this time.

“I got traded here, we went to the Stanley Cup Final and haven’t been back since,” Brandon Hagel said. “It’s a hard place to get. It’s not fun. Long summers aren’t that fun. Everyone wants to play, everyone dreams of this moment.

“There was a message that was sent at the start of the year and all 25 guys have bought in. We do have a really good team that we’re up against, and it’s going to be a really big test for us.”

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: ROUND 1

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING (Atl2) v MONTREAL CANADIENS (Atl3)  

GAME 1

When: Sunday, 5:45 p.m.

Where: Benchmark Arena, Tampa

Tampa Local TV: The Spot-66

National TV: TNT/truTV

Streaming: HBO Max

Season Series: Tampa Bay won 2-1 

All-time Regular Season Series: Lightning leads 63-43-11, 6 ties

All-time Postseason Series — Lightning Lead 3-1: Won 2021 Stanley Cup Final (5 games); Won 2015 Round 2 (6); Lost 2014 Round 1 (4); Won 2004 Round 2 (4)

Series Schedule — Game 1: at Tampa Bay, 5:45 Sunday (TNT, truTV); Game 2: at Tampa Bay, 7 Tuesday (ESPN2); Game 3: at Montreal, 7 Friday (TNT, truTV); Game 4: at Montreal, 7 April 26 (ESPN); *Game 5: at Tampa Bay, April 29 TBD; *Game 6: at Montreal, May 1 TBD; *Game 7: at Tampa Bay, May 3 TBD