Lightning maintain humility as they look to bury the Panthers

The Tampa Bay Lightning don't want to get ahead of themselves in their bid to become the first team in 40 years to win three consecutive Stanley Cup titles.

The two-time defending champions are up 2-0 on the Presidents Trophywinning Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference semifinals yet understand there's still a lot of work to do as they pursue a special place in NHL history.

The Lightning have won four straight games to move from the brink of elimination in the first round to having an opportunity to take a commanding series lead when they host Game 3 in Tampa, Fla., today (10:30 a.m. PDT, TNT).

“Guys have done a hell of a job to put us where we are, but we're far from done in this series,” coach Jon Cooper reiterated.

The Panthers, the league's top team during the regular season, say there's still a lot of fight left in them.

The New York Rangers, down 2-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes in the other Eastern Conference semifinal that continues today, are singing a similar tune after losing the first two games of that matchup on the road.

“We have a great opportunity. We win a game, everything changes,” Florida interim coach Andrew Brunette said.

“We've played really well on the road all year,” Brunette added. “There's no reason why we can't go there and play our best game.”

The Panthers' hopes are bolstered by the fact they won twice on the road on the way to eliminating the Washington Capitals in the first round.

Ross Colton's goal with 3.8 seconds remaining won Game 2. To come back and win the best-of-7 series, Florida will have to take four of five games from the defending champs over the next week.

That is a tall order against any opponent, much less a proud, resilient team that hasn't lost consecutive playoff games in three years.