Lightning facing big trouble

WASHINGTON — Jon Cooper walked into the locker room and didn’t get the sense Lightning players were down in the dumps about losing the first two games of the Eastern Conference final.

“It was more kind of like an anger of like we want to get back — like let’s get Game 3 going here,” Tampa Bay’s coach said.

Game 3 on Tuesday night in Washington can’t come soon enough for the Lightning, who are in a historically difficult spot after losing twice at home to open the series. Of the 41 previous times a team lost the first two games in the conference finals, 39 went on to lose the series — including every team that lost its first two at home.

“For us, it’s all about resetting everything,” defenseman Victor Hedman said Monday. “There’s no panic. We’re obviously not happy with losing two games on home ice, but that is not something that goes into our locker room. We’ve got the experience. We’ve got the guys that are in the playoffs for the first time, guys have been through this, and we’re capable of handling that.”

The Lightning under Cooper haven’t lost the first two games of a series since 2014, when they were swept in the first round by Montreal. That was a learning experience players could point to when they went to the Stanley Cup Final in 2015, but right now it’s just an ugly deficit.

After not allowing Boston to score an even-strength goal in the final three games during the second round, Tampa Bay has been outscored 7-1 by Washington at even strength and 10-4 overall. Asked what the Lightning needed to do better, three-time Cup-winning defenseman Ken Daneyko responded, “Where do we begin?”

“They were so responsible defensively, making good puck decisions and through the first two rounds they didn’t give up a whole lot. All of a sudden, you’re seeing outnumbered situations,” said Daneyko, now an NHL Network analyst. “Just mental breakdowns, mental mistakes by Tampa Bay. You never know why it turns so drastically like that when they were so sound against the Bruins. That can’t happen.”