The Bolts are in jeopardy of heading to Brooklyn, trailing the Islanders by two games.

"It's almost a must-win," said Lightning Jonathan Drouin, when asked about Game 2. 

The Lightning are down 1-0 to New York after dropping Game 1, 5-3.

“In the playoffs I think next game is always a must win," said Lightning forward Alex Killorn.  "You just look forward to the next game and you have to win, especially, at home when you’re going down one game, you don’t want to go to Brooklyn 2 games to none."

"Every game is a must-win in the playoffs," said Lightning goalie Ben Bishop.  "That’s the way you treat ‘em. You’re not gonna play any different if you’re up 1-0 or down 1-0.  You're still trying to win every game."

The Bolts fall into the latter category.  Their NHL-leading penalty kill dropped to 3rd after allowing one goal.  Bishop allowed 4 goals on 13 shots and his team's comeback effort fell short. 

“We can’t sit here every single game and say 'oh well we have Ben Bishop back there, he’s gonna bail us out,'" said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper.  "Sometimes we have to bail him out, when he’s not at his best."

The Vezina Trophy finalist, said he has a short memory and he is not worried about returning to MVP form in Game Two.

“You do the same thing every day," said Bishop.  "I’m not gonna change the way I play."

"You just look at the game and some nights, ya know, the pucks find goofy ways in and some nights the hits the posts and don’t go in. So it’s just one of those things where you just stick with your structure and more often times than not you’ll be successful."

One game does not make a series.  The Islanders are anticipating an elevated effort from the Bolts.

“They’re a skilled team and they made a strong push," said Islander Captain John Tavares.  "They obviously get their "D" up on the play and we want to stay above them. We know they are going to respond, so we have to come on Saturday with even a better effort.

The Lightning is just 2-for-7 in Game One during Cooper's postseason tenure.  They plan to lean on that experience to manage emotional dips waiting for Game 2. 

“It’s nothing that we haven’t seen before and we’re confident that we’ll be back in this series," said Killorn.  "That experience is huge, not to feel too down after this loss. We did have a good third period, I thought, and there is some stuff we can definitely build on."

“We have lost game one in series, both home and the road and we’ve come back," said Cooper. 

"You’re just making it harder on yourselves. Plus, it makes Game 2 paramount. Let’s put ourselves in a position to be 1-1 when we go back (to Brooklyn). We’ve done this before. Let’s draw from our experiences in the past, but we’re gonna have to play a little better than we did last night (Wednesday) to pull this one out."

NUTS AND BOLTS:

-Game 2: LIGHTNING-ISLANDERS, SATURDAY 3 p.m. at Amalie Arena

-Steven Stamkos skated with the Lightning Thursday for the 3rd straight day. He still wore a red non-contact jersey.  Once he is taken off blood thinners he said he thinks he'll be able to play within 12-24 hours.  He doesn't know when he'll be taken off the blood thinners.