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.<\/p>\n
But it is true \u2014 and he knows it.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the media ahead of today\u2019s Game 1 against the Montreal Canadiens in Tampa, Cooper said it is something they have even talked about as the season has gone on. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s weird that it doesn\u2019t feel like it\u2019s been three years since we have won a series, but it has been three years,\u201d Cooper said on Saturday after his team\u2019s final prep before the playoffs begin. \u201cIt just doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n
\u201dBut that doesn\u2019t 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\u2019t advanced? There\u2019s no question it has come up. It can be used a motivation, yes, but it doesn\u2019t guarantee how we do.\u201d<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
There was the first-round sweep to Sergei Bobrovsky and the Blue Jackets in 2019.<\/p>\n
And now there is this. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
The Panthers, of course, won the Cup in those years. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve been through Game 7 heartbreaks in conference finals,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cThey\u2019ve been through being swept. \u2026 But they\u2019ve also been through Cups, being to four Finals, that whole wave of ups-and-downs.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n