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Stamkos: ‘We got what was coming’

Steven Stamkos

Steven Stamkos

AP

Tampa Bay still has a 3-1 lead in their second round series against the Montreal Canadiens even after Montreal’s 6-2 win tonight, but the Lightning have cause for concern.

Obviously Montreal’s a great team with Carey Price between the pipes and P.K. Subban leading the defense, but that’s not the only consideration. The Lightning barely won in the first and third games of this series and in the case of the latter, it wasn’t their best work. So while Tampa Bay came into the night with a chance to advance to the Eastern Conference Final, this series hadn’t been nearly as one-sided as the 3-0 lead suggested.

“We got what was coming,” Stamkos told Tampa Bay Times’ Joe Smith.

“We just have to be better...We’re not good enough the last couple games,” he added, per Lightning.nhl.com’s Bryan Burns.

Stamkos’ play in particular remains troubling for the Lightning. To be fair, he’s on a three-game point streak and it’s not like he’s the reason the Lightning lost Thursday night. At the same time, he hasn’t recorded a shot on goal in the last two games of this series. Combine that with the fact that he’s only scored one goal in the 2015 playoffs and it becomes fair to say that more is expected from him.

Tampa Bay will get another shot to end this series on Saturday. The Canadiens clearly won’t go down quietly though, so unless the Lightning step up their game, they might run into problems.

Follow @RyanDadoun