Lightning Coach Jon Cooper Has Blunt Message With His Team On The Ropes Against Panthers

Tampa Bay Lightning bench boss Jon Cooper sent a clear message to his team after their Game 3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday night that puts them down 3-0 in a first-round series against their cross-state rivals.

It takes a big man to admit when he's wrong and while I'm not quite ready to do that, it sure as hell looks like this series will not be going the seven games I thought it was.

Like Games 1 and 2, Game 3 was a pretty tight back-and-forth affair, and the 5-3 game (the final Panthers goal was an empty-netter) once again could've swung Tampa's way just as easily as it did Florida's.

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper says he only wants "believers" to show up to the rink as the team faces a 3-0 deficit against the Florida Panthers.  (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

However, you can't bank on blind luck and getting some bounces to go your way in the postseason, and while the loss in Game 3 was likely demoralizing, Jon Cooper wants a bunch of believers to show up to the practice facility.

"It's tough when you get in situations like this ... what you're going to say right at this moment," Cooper said, per TSN. "But the talk was we want the believers to show up at the rink tomorrow and if you’re not going to believe, you don’t have to come. So, we’ll see who shows up tomorrow."

Yeah, you're definitely going to need some believers.

Coming back from a 3-0 series deficit is a tall order and has only happened four times in NHL history: the 1942 Maple Leafs were the first (and did it in the Cup Final), the 1975 Islanders, the 2010 Flyers, and the 2014 Kings. On the plus side, the last two teams to accomplish the feat reached the Stanley Cup Final afterward and the Kings even won their second Cup in three seasons.

Tampa has enough playoff experience to never quit on a series, but it feels like coming back from this will be one of the team's biggest tests yet.

Another thing to keep in mind is that captain Steven Stamkos will be a UFA this summer which means that we could be seeing his final games in a Lightning uniform. How the Lightning responds to the adversity could go a long way in making him consider re-upping with the Lightning.