Lightning back in East final for third time in 4 years

The Tampa Bay Lightning know the grind.

Back in the Eastern Conference final for the third time in four years, the Atlantic Division winners led the NHL in scoring this season but have been even more impressive defensively through the first two rounds of the playoffs.

“I think if people looked at our team in the regular season ... we had the most goals scored in the league or close to it. So, we’re kind of looked at as that team, the high-flying Bolts that can score and defence isn’t really important to them,” coach Jon Cooper said.

“To us, all along it has been (important). To win in the playoffs, you have to have that,” Cooper added. “Probably the one thing that’s gone under the radar is how physical we’ve been in both series. I think that’s really helped the cause to where we were. It’s difficult in an 82-game season to bring that kind of intensity every single night. In the playoffs guys are more dialed in.”

Sunday’s 3-1 victory closed out the team’s second-round matchup against the Boston Bruins in five games.

Coming off a week’s rest, the Lightning allowed six goals in losing Game 1. Over the last three games of the series, including a pair of wins in Boston, Tampa Bay neutralized the Bruins’ highscoring line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak while not allowing an evenstrength goal.