Tampa mayor Jane Castor says the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are on the verge on clinching their second consecutive Stanley Cup, should let the Montreal Canadiens win Game 4 in Canada so the defending champs can win it all at home and celebrate in front of fans.
Game 4 is Monday night in Montreal. The Lightning have commanding 3-0 lead and have not trailed in the series.
“What we would like is for the Lightning to take it a little bit easy, to give the Canadiens just the smallest break, allow them to win one at home, and then bring it back to the Amalie Arena for the final and the winning of the Stanley Cup,” Castor said. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. But they are playing some amazing, amazing hockey.”
Winning the Cup as soon as possible might be extra motivation for the Lightning. Although extremely rare, teams in the NHL have come back from 3-0 playoff deficits, the last time being in the 2014 Western Conference First Round, when the Los Angeles Kings eliminated the San Jose Sharks.
The last time in happened in the Stanley Cup Finals was in 1942 when the Detroit Red Wings blew a series lead against Toronto Maple Leafs. Five other NHL teams down 3-0 have rallied back to force a Game 7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Stanley Cup Final: Tampa mayor suggests Lightning should lose Game 4