Why the Lightning will win Game 7

11:01 AM ET

TAMPA — So it comes down to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals to determine whether the Pittsburgh Penguins or the Tampa Bay Lightning will advance to the Stanley Cup finals to play either the San Jose Sharks or the St. Louis Blues. The Lightning-Penguins series moves back to Pittsburgh for the final showdown on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET at Consol Energy Center.

My esteemed colleague Scott Burnside will try to convince you why the Penguins will win and advance to the finals, and while I may agree (I picked the Penguins to win in seven games at the start of the series), here are three reasons why the Lightning can win Game 7:

Been there, done that: We’re already three-quarters of the way toward history repeating itself. The Lightning lost on home ice in Game 6 of last year’s Eastern Conference finals, to the New York Rangers, but then rebounded with a 2-0 win in Game 7 at Madison Square Garden to advance to the Stanley Cup finals. This year, Tampa Bay dropped Game 6 at Amalie Arena 5-2 to the Penguins and now must win on the road again to earn a second consecutive trip to the finals. Lightning coach Jon Cooper has used the word “resiliency” numerous times throughout the playoffs. You can count on him to employ it again in the next 38 hours.

“It’s tough,” said Lightning forward Ryan Callahan of losing Game 6. “Any time you miss an opportunity like this, it’s disappointing. Our first 40 minutes wasn’t where it needed to be. We had a good third [period], but obviously, too little too late and there’s nothing we can do about it now. We move on, we get past it, forget about this game and go play one game for a chance to advance.”

Callahan is …

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