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With chance to finish off Rangers, Lightning need to avoid another ‘letdown’

Tampa Bay Lightning v New York Rangers - Game Five

Tampa Bay Lightning v New York Rangers - Game Five

Jared Silber

So the Tampa Bay Lightning are headed home with an opportunity to finish off the New York Rangers. A win Tuesday and the Bolts will be off to the Stanley Cup Final.

For their sake, they’d better show a little more killer instinct than they did earlier in these playoffs.

In the first round, the Lightning were fortunate to beat the Red Wings in Game 7, after Detroit outshot them 31-17. In the second round, they had an opportunity to sweep the Montreal Canadiens, only to lose 6-2.

Both those games were at home.

Knowing that, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is hoping his team has learned from the past.

“I think in these playoffs we’ve had a big emotional win, and we’ve kind of had a letdown game,” he said after last night’s big emotional victory in New York.

“I think we’ve learned our lesson pretty quick. Toughest one to win is the fourth one, especially at this time of the year, when it’s to go to the final.”

Remember that there’s a guy in the Rangers’ crease who’s been pretty good in the seventh games of playoff series, so the Lightning could be in tough if they lose Tuesday.