Lightning Battle At Home Thursday Night To Remain In Playoffs

TAMPA, FL — It's do-or-die time. After a disappointing loss to the Maple Leafs 3-4 Tuesday night, the Lightning will go another round in Game 6 of the NHL playoffs Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Amalie Arena.

If the Lightning lose this game, there won't be a Game 7.

What went wrong Tuesday?

Forward Steven Stamkos said the Lightning's loss on Tuesday began in the second period.

"You look back on things and you can nit-pick," Stamkos said. "But it's usually a bad omen when you get a 5 on 3 (two opposing players in the penalty box) and you don't score. That can kind of ice the game early. We just sat back too much and got away from our game plan."

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper remains optimistic, however.

"We lost a game tonight. Like I said, we let this one slip away. That's on us," said Cooper following Tuesday's loss. "But we haven't let the series slip away. We let a game slip away. So that's how you look at it. You just gotta play game by game. Tonight got away from us."

The Lightning face elimination for just the second time in the past three playoff seasons but the odds are still in their favor. The Lightning have won seven of their last eight home playoff games. The only loss was in Game 3 against the Maple Leafs.

Coming into Game 6 of the best-of-seven first-round series of the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs, Tampa Bay Lightning are 9-8 all-time.

The Bolts have trailed 3-2 in a playoff series six times in its history and have come back to win two of those playoffs series.

In 2004, the Lightning was 3-2 to Calgary before winning Game 6 in double overtime 3-2 and then Game 7 2-1, going on to win their first Stanley Cup.

In 2015, the Bolts were down 3-2 to Detroit in the 2015 Eastern Conference First Round series but defeated the Red Wings 5-2 in Game 6 at Detroit and won the series with a 2-0 victory in Game 7 at Amalie Arena.

First Round Playoffs

• Game 1 May 2 in Toronto - Lighting lost 0-5
• Game 2 May 4 in Toronto - Lightning won 5-3
• Game 3 May 6 home - Lightning lost 2-5
• Game 4 May 8 home - Lightning won 7-3
• Game 5 May 10 in Toronto - Lightning lost 3-4

Projected Lineup

Forwards

• Ondrej Palat - Steven Stamkos - Nikita Kucherov
• Anthony Cirelli - Brayden Point - Alex Killorn
• Brandon Hagel - Nick Paul - Ross Colton
• Pat Maroon - Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - Corey Perry

Defensemen

• Victor Hedman - Erik Cernak
• Ryan McDonagh - Zach Bogosian
• Mikhail Sergachev - Cal Foote

Goaltenders

• Andrei Vasilevskiy
• Brian Elliott

How To Watch

For fans who are unable to score a ticket to Thursday's home game, they can still take part in the fan experience at the Lightning Plaza Party on Ford Thunder Alley in front of Amalie Arena. Tickets to the plaza party are $5 and can be purchased via Ticketmaster.

Ford Thunder Alley will open three hours before the puck drop at 7:30 p.m.

Fans with tickets to the Lightning Plaza Party are permitted to bring a standard tailgate-sized chairs (20 by 20 inches). Outside beverages, coolers, bags and tents are prohibited.

Fans with tickets to the Ford Thunder Alley viewing party or the game will be able to access the plaza via the west sidewalk in between the JW Marriott and the Pam Iorio Garage, the west sidewalk at the intersection of Morgan/Channelside, or the entryway to the plaza at the northwest corner of Amalie Arena.

From home, fans can watch the game on TV on Bally Sports Sun, stream it on the Bally Sports Appor listen to Radio 970 WFLA-AM, Lightning Power Play.