▶▶ If there are violations of image copyright issues, content, we wish you send mail or comment under the video, we will process immediately at the request of the copyright owner. And will delete them. |--| ▶▶♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥◄◄. Lightning coach Jon Cooper was midway through his news conference Thursday at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, answering some question about defenseman Victor Hedman, when suddenly there was a noise that sounded just a like. Uh, something being flushed. "Don't even tell me what I think that is!" Cooper said. He laughed. He paused. Then he kept going, giving a rather detailed, thoughtful response to that question about Hedman. And that right there is a perfect example of this Lightning team. Distractions. Interruptions. Maybe a big ol' pile of, well, you know what, swirling around it and yet it keeps moving forward, keeps plowing ahead. Keeps winning. "We're a resilient group," Hedman said. Over the past two seasons, the Lightning has had major injuries, gut-punch losses, bad breaks and bad bounces. Yet, it has never lost its focus or enthusiasm or confidence. Because of that, it is one of four teams left standing for the second consecutive season. And here's the latest challenge: a date against the hottest team in hockey. Tonight the Lightning continues its quest for Lord Stanley's Cup with Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final against the red-hot Penguins in Pittsburgh. Based on its history, don't be surprised if the Lightning loses. It tends to lose Game 1s. That's what it does. Then don't be surprised if Tampa Bay picks itself up, dusts itself off and goes on to win the series. That's, too, what it does. Nothing seems to faze this group. Not only does it expect the unexpected, it seems to embrace it. For example, Lightning forward Brian Boyle was asked what he expects in Game 1. Boyle smiled, shrugged and said, "Remains to be seen.". Whatever it is, look for the Lightning to handle it. "Things are going to happen," Boyle said. "We're going to get some breaks. We're going to have things go against us that you can't control sometimes. We understand that after each game that you have to start fresh, you have to start new and continue to try to accomplish the task at hand.". It has done that for two seasons and, for the most part, has seemed to find a way. It has won five of its past six playoff series. Here comes another series. And the Lightning will approach it how. Like every other series it has played. "We approach every series like we're going to win the series," Cooper said. "That's how we approach it.". This won't be easy. The Penguins are good. Really good. No team has played better of late. They finished the regular season by winning 13 of their final 15 games. They dusted the Rangers in the first round in five games and then knocked out the Capitals, the regular season's best team. They are loaded up front, so much so that they beat the Caps without any goals (and just three total points) from superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Just goes to show you how deep this Penguins team is. Just goes to show you how good it is. Right, Victor Hedman. "We do the same," Hedman said. Hedman wasn't being cocky or dismissive. He was just pointing out that this year the Lightning is doing all this without leading goal scorer Steven Stamkos. Everybody on the team — whether it's top scorer Nikita Kucherov or the fourth liners — is contributing. The Lightning kind of sounds like the Penguins. "In terms of being a pretty good team?" Boyle said. "Yeah.".