The Tampa Bay Lightning can take the next step in their quest to win the Stanley Cup for the third consecutive season by defeating the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Amalie Arena on Monday.
The Lightning would complete a series sweep with a victory and reach the Eastern Conference Final/Stanley Cup Semifinals for the sixth time in eight seasons. It would be Tampa Bay's 10th straight playoff series win since the start of the 2020 postseason. Only the New York Islanders (19, 1980-84) and the Montreal Canadiens (13, 1976-1980) have won more consecutive NHL playoff series.
Teams that take a 3-0 lead in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series are 197-4 (.980), including 1-0 in the first round this season. But the Lightning know it won't be easy to finish the Panthers, who won the Presidents' Trophy as the team with the best record in the NHL.
"These guys have their backs against the wall," Lightning forward Steven Stamkos said. "We've had this opportunity before and it's the hardest one to get. We understand that challenge, but we'll be ready. We have an opportunity to do it in front of our home fans and feed off that. We know they're going to give us their best effort. We have to match that and then some."
The Panthers hope to rebound from a 5-1 loss in Game 3 on Sunday with a victory, which would push the series to Game 5 at home Wednesday.
"Right now we've got to give everything we have," Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau said. "Down 3-0, it's a good team. Who knows? It's a back-to-back, so we can show up [Monday] and win a game and it's a different series."
Here are three keys for Game 4:
