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Lightning coach: Everyone’s written us off, so we have nothing to lose

Jon Cooper

Jon Cooper

AP

Listening to Lightning coach Jon Cooper and it’s clear he sees Tampa Bay as the team no one ever believed in. Now that the Lightning are down 2-0 to Montreal, he feels that opinion has intensified.

“So now you look in the room at those guys and what do we have to lose?” Cooper asked. “We’re on the road, everybody thinks we’re suppose to lose.”

For good measure, Cooper then tossed in a reference to Montreal winning Games 1 and 2 on the road against the Boston Bruins in 2011 before losing in seven games.

Taking the pressure off his team might help the Lightning, but there’s a reason why many aren’t optimistic about their chances of staging a comeback. Losing goaltender Ben Bishop (elbow) was a big blow to them after he put himself in the conversation for the Vezina Trophy with his 2.23 GAA and .924 save percentage in 63 starts.

Bishop held the Canadiens to a 0.94 GAA and .962 save percentage in four contests during the regular season. In contrast, so far goalie Anders Lindback has a 3.69 GAA and .881 save percentage in the first round.

You can watch Cooper’s full press conference below:

Game 3 will start at 7:00 p.m. ET and will air on NBCSN.

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