Whether it was having to outgun Carolina at home during a Game 4 that featured eight second-period goals, or cling to a 1-0 lead on the road in what would be a 2-0 win in decisive Game 5, the Tampa Bay Lightning do whatever it takes to get the job done.

“We have the ability to win different ways,” said coach Jon Cooper, following a 6-4 win in Game 4 against the Hurricanes. “If you want to get in a shootout, we do have a group that can do it that way. But that’s not ideal.”

No it’s not. The 2018-19 Lightning scored at will in the regular season and then were swept in the first round by Columbus.

That postseason debacle seems so long ago when considering all that has since taken place. When the Lightning celebrated their Stanley Cup win last summer, they did so 2,800 miles from Tampa inside an empty Rogers Place in Edmonton.

The way the Lightning have been going about their business so far in this year’s playoffs, they may get a chance to celebrate a Cup win in a packed Amalie Arena.

Of course, there is plenty of work to be done beginning with a semifinal round against the New York Islanders. It will be Tampa Bay’s fifth third-round appearance in the last seven years. Twice during their current run they advanced to the Stanley Cup final, winning it all last year when they defeated the Dallas Stars in six games, and losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in 2015. 

“We have been down this road,” said Cooper, following the series-clinching win in Raleigh. “There is a formula in place, you need players to execute it and they go out and do it. I am proud of them. I am proud of their effort. I am proud of them making plays under pressure. If you want me to throw a whole bunch of cliches out there, I can. But take them all and ball them up into one and that is the effort that these guys gave. You need that if you want to advance.”

A team also needs tremendous goaltending. Andrei Vasilevskiy has provided that and his Game 5 shutout of the Hurricanes was a prime example of a goaltender snuffing out an opponent’s momentum while giving his team a jolt. 

With the game scoreless in the second period and Tampa Bay on the power play, Vasilevskiy robbed Carolina’s Vincent Trocheck on a shorthanded attempt. Several seconds later, Brayden Point scored a nifty goal to put the Lightning on top.

It was the difference between PNC Arena rocking at its core and a crowd-silencing goal that proved to be the game-winner and series clincher.

Rookie Ross Colton added an insurance goal about midway through the third period to seal Carolina’s fate.

Colton scoring such a big goal is kind of how things have played out for the Lightning. After all, everybody from top to bottom has made substantial contributions during these playoffs, a postseason that has been marked with a level of consistent play that, to this point, has matched that of last summer’s effort in the bubbles of Toronto and Edmonton.

“In the playoffs, it has to be a different (level of) effort,” said Vasilevskiy, the 2018-19 Vezina Trophy winner and a finalist for the fourth straight year. “I think last year and this year, so far, we have been very consistent. It takes everybody to win in the playoffs. It can’t be just one or two guys. All the guys have to put in the best effort every night.”

Speaking of having everybody on board, the Lightning did not have the services of Nikita Kucherov during the 60-game regular season. Kucherov, who was the NHL’s MVP in 2018-19, had hip surgery in December and started skating in March. He was ready to go when the curtain lifted on the playoffs last month against the Florida Panthers and has responded with a playoff-leading 18 points in 11 games.

Captain Steven Stamkos missed the final month of the regular season due to injury. He returned at the start of the postseason and is among the leading playoff scorers. A couple of other players were also banged up, though everybody has been on board since the final game of the series against the Panthers when Barclay Goodrow returned.

Despite key injuries, the Lightning had a solid regular season. The 60-game slate was a rugged divisional format in which teams got to know each other really well. For Cooper’s team that meant plenty of dates with Central Division opponents Florida and Carolina, the teams Tampa Bay played in the first two rounds. 

“I have been very fortunate to coach in a few playoffs now, and those were two of the toughest rounds we ever (played),” said Cooper. “It was a hell of a grind to get out of this division.”

Now that they are out of the division, the Lightning could be on their way to bigger and better. First things first, though.

“This is not the end goal,” said Brayden Point, whose eight goals through two rounds were tied for the playoff lead. “There is still so much work to be done. We can’t get too high here.”