TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Lightning were busy Tuesday, but it wasn't on the ice as expected.

Instead, the team was going through end-of-season meetings as players packed up for the summer.

The Bolts had hoped to be playing a Game 7 in Denver, but lost Sunday night’s Stanley Cup Final to the Colorado Avalanche, 4 games to 2.

Players on Tuesday cleaned out their lockers, shook hands, did exit interviews and went their separate ways.

The Lightning had won back-to-back Stanley Cup titles but fell just short of a three-peat. Tampa Bay would have been the first team since the 1980s New York Islanders to accomplish the feat.

The Lightning have played more games the last three years than any team in the NHL because of those postseason runs.

“It's an impressive run this organization has been on and none of us, management, coaches, players, staff, fans, none of us should take that for granted,” said Bolts GM Julien BriseBois. “This has been really impressive what we have been able to accomplish over the last eight seasons and we're all very fortunate to be a part of that.”

Defenseman Victor Hedman said the loss would “take awhile to digest” but said the team will be ready to go in September.

Center Steven Stamkos called the team’s recent years a “heck of a run.”

“We were so close to doing something that was pretty much unthinkable,” he said of a three-peat. “And it's probably going to get lost a little bit because we didn't win, but it was still a heck of a run.”

BriseBois told reporters Tuesday he has already been in contact with Lightning free agents Ondrej Palat, Nick Paul and Jan Rutta, and is hopeful all three can be brought back.