Lightning want nothing to do with a Game 7

Martin Fennelly Columns

COLUMN

BRANDON — They’re a win away from the Eastern Conference finals.

They’re two losses from infamy.

That’s the deal tonight for the Lightning. They’ll try, for the third time, to kill off Le Thing That Wouldn’t Die: Montreal’s Canadiens. The Lightning either take Game 6 at Amalie Arena or return to Quebec to become the fifth team in NHL history to blow a 3-0 playoff series lead.

There’s no third option.

Forget Thursday and Game 7. For the Lightning, this is Game 7.

Up 3-0, they rolled out two games in which they seemed afraid to lose. Now they need to unleash 60 fearless minutes, or more — and without Ryan Callahan, who underwent an emergency appendectomy Monday night.…