The Lightning seem to have gotten better each game of this Eastern Conference Final series.
After getting blown out in game one, Tampa came up a little short in game two, needed a comeback to take game three, and then thoroughly outplayed the Rangers in game four to even the series.
Blueshirts head coach Gerard Gallant believes that is a trend that will cease as the series shifts back to New York for a crucial game five on Thursday night.
“I’m not worried about them building,” Gallant said. “I’m hoping it’s gonna be a homer series. We were pretty good in our building, they’re pretty good in their building. That’s what I see so far.
“We’re a good home team…we’ve done a good job at home. If you look around the league, a lot of teams play better in their own building. It’s a two out of three, we still have home ice advantage. Gotta make sure we’re ready for the next game. The next one’s a big one.”
The Rangers have certainly been a different team at Madison Square Garden this postseason, having only lost one game, a triple overtime defeat to the Penguins in their postseason opener. New York looked like the dominant team through the first two games of this series, but the two-time defending champions seem to have returned to form.
While Gallant is confident a return home will provide a better result, he still knows it will take a better effort than what he saw in game four to take momentum back from Tampa, no matter where the game is played.
“They better be calm, but they better be ready to play harder,” Gallant said. “That's the bottom line. Now, it's a two out of three. We still got the home ice, but we got to play better.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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