Lightning find comfort away from home
CHICAGO— The Tampa Bay Lightning first went on the road this postseason for Game 3 in Round 1 against the Detroit Red Wings. Despite a clean slate, their regular season struggles away from Amalie Arena continued with a 3-0 loss.
Leading up to the postseason, the Lightning had lost six of nine on the road to end the regular season and finished with an 18-16-7 record, good enough for 19th overall in the NHL. But now, since that first road game at Joe Louis Arena, Tampa has found a comfort away from home.
The Lightning enter Game 3 at United Center with a 7-3 road record these playoffs (they’re 6-6 at home), with their last two wins coming via huge 2-0 shutouts at Madison Square Garden in Games 5 and 7 of the Eastern Conference Final. So why the sudden change in fortune once the postseason arrived?
“The one thing that I know going to the playoffs,” said coach Jon Cooper, “there was so much talk about how bad we were on the road, I think it changed our focus. Conversely, there was so much talk about how good we are at home, we just took that for granted. We wanted to put a show on at home. It didn’t work out for us.”
Alex Killorn agrees with Cooper.
“The way we play on the road is a little bit different than we play at home,” he said. “I think we’re an extremely confident team at home, maybe too confident in some ways. We’ll try to make too many plays. On the road we play more of a simple game. But I think since we’ve been at home in this series we’ve played a pretty simple game.”
There are also the distractions, as Killorn noted. You’re at home, your family and friends are around. You get to sleep in your own bed, but people want to talk to you about the games, maybe haggle you for some tickets. On the road, you’re in a hotel room and surrounded by your teammates most of the time. It’s a business trip. You’re in and you’re out, hopefully leaving with some Ws.
The Blackhawks, meanwhile, have only lost once at home this postseason, a 2-1 decision to the Anaheim Ducks in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final.
Cooper knows, however, that there’s no formula for success at home or on the road.
“The other thing, too, is you get breaks. The rest, all that, helps out, too,” said Cooper.
Another difference about being on the home versus the road: matchups. Joel Quenneville will get last change for these next two games in Chicago. Hoping to get his top guns going, he’ll do his best to avoid putting them out against Tampa’s top defense pairing of Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman. But that’s not a big concern for Hedman.
“It doesn’t matter who goes out there, we know they’re going to get the job done,” he said.
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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