Lightning coach Cooper on winning Game 7 at MSG: 'Maybe we're young, dumb and don't know any better'
For the Tampa Bay Lightning and head coach Jon Cooper, ignorance is bliss.
The Lightning handed the New York Rangers their first Game 7 loss on home ice in franchise history and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final with a 2-0 victory in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
The Lightning also snapped Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist's NHL-record streak of six consecutive Game 7 victories.
Cooper quipped that perhaps his team was simply unaware of the Rangers' history of Game 7 success.
"Maybe we're young, dumb and don't know any better," Cooper said following the win.
The Lightning won the first two games of their second-round matchup against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre and won Games 2, 5, and 7 of the Conference Final in New York.
"You shine the light bright on our guys, they just put on sunglasses and walk through it," Cooper said.
"Every time we as a staff go in and challenge them, they respond. They're such a fun team to coach," he added.
Cooper confirmed an illness spread through the dressing room earlier in the series.
Cooper finally confirms flu bug before Game 6. Said "things were coming out of them that shouldn't be coming out of them."
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) May 30, 2015
The Lightning will face the winner of Game 7 in the Western Conference Final between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night.
The Stanley Cup Final begins Wednesday.