Lightning resolute facing elimination again in Game 6 of Cup Final

The Tampa Bay Lightning boarded their flight home Saturday, undoubtedly weary from another long grind during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but grateful they have at least one more game to play, and hopefully another after that.

The Lightning will face elimination for the fourth time this postseason in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Colorado Avalanche at Amalie Arena on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS). But Tampa Bay's resolve has not wavered in its quest to win the Stanley Cup for the third straight season.

If anything, it has become stronger after the Lightning tightened the gap in the best-of-7 series to 3-2 with a 3-2 victory in Game 5 at Colorado on Friday. Staring down the end of their season tied 2-2 in the third period, with the Avalanche having a chance to win the Stanley Cup at home, the Lightning survived again with forward Ondrej Palat scoring the winning goal with 6:22 remaining.

"I do have to marvel at what's gone on and how many times you can be kicked and get back off the mat," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said Saturday. "It's not always the game situations. It's the injuries and the blocked shots and the gamesmanship and all those things that kind of just needle you to go away. Just like little gnats, like 'OK, go. It's OK. It's OK if you back down now. You've won. You've done it.' And that's why I think teams don't keep repeating, because it's easy to walk away.

"These guys won't do it, and it's something to marvel."
https://www.nhl.com/news/tampa-bay-lightning-facing-elimination-again-in-game-6-of-stanley-cup-final/c-334735758