Lightning Expect Tough Playoff Series Against Maple Leafs, Admit to 'Mental Fatigue' Down Stretch of Regular Season
The Toronto Maple Leafs fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in their best-of-seven first-round series last year. Tampa expects a tougher challenge against an improved Maple Leafs.
Toronto Maple Leafs fans weren't the only ones growing impatient before the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The itch was so bad for the Tampa Bay Lightning that the club went into a bit of a tailspin down the stretch of the regular season.
"Do I chalk some of that up to 'Let's just wait until we get to the playoffs?' No question," Cooper said before Game 1 on Tuesday. "We were playing extremely well until the night we clinched. And then our game slipped a little."
[gallery ids="5136,5137,5138,5139"]
The Lightning went 9-11-2 since March and that left many wondering if the club was just feeling the effects of playing a lot of games over the course of three seasons, having won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021 while also going to the Stanley Cup Final in 2022.
Tampa Bay forward Steven Stamkos dismissed any notion that his team will have any difficulty flipping to switch to postseason action.
"It's the most exciting hockey you'll play in your career," he said. "You can tell when the calendar switches and the 82nd game is over, you can see the twinkle in guys' eyes, that nervous energy, excitement."
The Maple Leafs were entrenched in an intense seven-game series with the Lightning last year. Tampa narrowly defeated Toronto in Game 7 by a score of 2-1.
"They're an improved team last year and it went seven. It's going to be an extremely difficult series," Stamkos said.
Toronto added several new pieces to their team, including Stanley Cup champion Ryan O'Reilly from the St. Louis Blues, while adding some depth players who can respond to Tampa's physicality, like Noel Acciari, Jake McCabe and Luke Schenn.
Tampa had some turnover from the club from last season. Forward Ondrej Palat is in the playoffs right now with the New Jersey Devils and defenseman Ryan McDonagh was traded to the Nashville Predators, primarily to make some room under the salary cap. Their big trade-deadline acquisition — Tanner Jeannot — was injured late in the regular season and not expected to be in the lineup for Game 1 against the Maple Leafs, but could return at some point, according to Cooper.
On paper, it certainly looks like Toronto is on the rise and Tampa is on the decline. But the playoffs bring with it a new season and Tampa certainly has an edge on how to rise to the occasion.
"Do these guys know the situation they're in. They do. Have they been here before? They have," Cooper said. "Does it mean we're going to play phenomenal tonight, No. We're in a seven-game series. We know what this means. But in doing that, I do think there was a little bit of mental fatigue in the last four or five weeks of the year."
Related