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Jon Cooper thought Lightning visited 'school of hard knocks' in Game 6

Jerome Miron / USA Today

The Tampa Bay Lightning were taught a lesson in Game 6.

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper believes his team played a terrible third period against the New York Rangers on Tuesday, which led to an eventual 7-3 loss.

“I think for five straight periods, we played really, really well. We played defense. We created chances. We just didn't turn pucks over. We thought we were playing a 2-1 game," Cooper told reporters after the contest. "Unfortunately, we weren't winning 2-1.”

Tampa allowed five of New York's seven goals in the third period as the team collapsed amidst a feisty scoring attack from the Rangers.

“And I think in a matter of seven or eight minutes there in that third period, we gave up more scoring chances and turned over more pucks, more than we did in all of Game 5 combined, the 60-minute game," Cooper explained. "For our team, as a group, we’ve never been this far before, and so it’s just more lessons learned, and sometimes you have to go to the school of hard knocks to find out what works and what doesn’t.

“We’ve got a young group. They’ve played some unreal hockey here to get us this far, and we showed if we’re not going to play the proper way, a really, really good hockey team is going to beat you, and that’s what they did. It’s a lesson learned.”

Cooper and star forward Steven Stamkos are on the same page and believe the team needs to forget about Game 6 and focus on Game 7, which is set to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday.

- With h/t to Pro Hockey Talk

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