Lightning focus on process, not results, to find success

Column

When the Tampa Bay Lightning trailed the Washington Capitals by a goal entering the third period Tuesday, they didn't talk about winning the game and putting a stranglehold on their playoff series. They never talk like that.

They had gotten out of whack in the second period and surrendered the lead. That had to be corrected.

It was the same approach they took when trailing the Pittsburgh Penguins 3 games to 1 in the first round of the playoffs. It's the same thing coach Guy Boucher has stressed since the first time he met his team last September. Identify mistakes and specifically correct them.

"It's about doing the right things so the result eventually comes," Boucher said after the Lightning rallied with a pair of quick goals to beat the Caps 4-3.

Now, they lead the Eastern Conference semifinals 3 games to none.

If they win tonight, they're in the conference finals.

It's heady stuff for those who follow the fifth-seeded team in the conference, remarkable really. We can talk like that. The Lightning never will.

"For us, winning is not enough," Boucher said.

That's because it's more about the process than the result with this team and this coach. Remember, he has a master's degree in sports psychology, so what we're seeing is the merger of formula and reality. We're seeing a team that has totally bought what the coach is selling.

"You can win a game but if you didn't do the right things, you're not better off. Yeah, you won the game – whoop-de-do, but you're worse off because you did the wrong things but the game just turned your way, so you sink even worse. So correct the things you need to correct," Boucher said.

Well, it got corrected.

"We didn't sit back," Steven Stamkos said. "In the third we really went after them."

Stamkos and Ryan Malone scored 24 seconds apart in the third and now the Bolts are on the precipice of a dandy upset against the top-seeded Caps.

"It's about being not afraid to lose," Stamkos said. "We realize the magnitude of this game."

Of course, Boston was in this position one year ago against Philadelphia and still lost the series, so the Bolts celebrated this win for "about one minute" Boucher said, and then went back to focusing how they got there instead of what they just did.

"The secret of our success is our narrow focus on today, that moment, period. The minute we go further ahead, you're no good because your focus isn't in the right place," Boucher said.

"It's just about (today's) game and it's not about 'let's win the series,' it's not about that. It's about playing that game with everything we've got, and then we'll see where we are. That's the key. That's how you get rid of anxiety because with anxiety, you make the wrong plays."

Players inside the Lightning dressing room were pleased but subdued. There is a time to cut loose and they aren't there yet.

"They are a very, very good team," winger Sean Bergenheim said of the Caps. "Nothing is done yet."

Bergenheim channeled his inner Sam Fuld in this one, scoring his fifth goal of the playoffs after just 14 in the regular season. You could see the Kool-Aid dribbling down his chin.

"I never even thought how I would play," he said. "My focus is always on the team. Our mindset is to never give up."

Or consider this statement from Malone, whose goal proved to be the difference – although Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said he didn't think the goal should have counted because he felt the Bolts were guilty of goalie interference.

Anyway, Malone said this: "Whatever it takes. If we stick to our game plan and structure, we'll be successful."

It has worked so far.

It's interesting that this approach is almost identical to the one the new management team used to turn around the Tampa Bay Rays after a decade of futility. They talked, too, about focusing on process over results. They rode that system to the World Series and two division titles. Now we see it happening again with the Lightning.

First things first, though. There is Game 4 tonight against the Capitals. That's it.

Leave it to the Lightning's heart and soul to sound the charge.

"We're glad about the result tonight but we have to reload," Marty St. Louis said.

The conference finals?

Not yet.

The Stanley Cup?

Oh please. Don't even mention it.

Just play the game properly, one shift at a time, one check at a time.

Just keep doing that and expect good things. It seems to be working.