Why Lightning slept at a hotel before home Game 7 vs. Canadiens

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Why Lightning slept at a hotel before home Game 7 vs. Canadiens originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have tried to change up their home ice mojo.

They did it by not sleeping at their homes on Saturday night.

The Lightning slept in a hotel, according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

"The Lightning slept at a nearby hotel last night," LeBrun wrote on X. "Two road wins in Montreal. Perhaps want to re-create that road mentality for Game 7 tonight?"

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It's a fascinating thought, one that by no means is a guarantee to work but clearly one that Tampa Bay thought was worth trying out.

The potential is that the Lightning can avoid any distractions and keep things focused, like they're on a business trip.

That can be why teams have success on the road even in the face of the idea of home-ice advantage. Sometimes a road trip can be so ultra-focused on hockey that it actually helps.

The hotel-before-home-games move is one that is carried out much more often in football, but not so much in the sports where they play so many games each season.

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The Lightning are coming off a suspense-filled, 1-0 overtime win over the Canadiens in Game 6 just to force Game 7.

The winner of Sunday night's decisive clash will head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres in Game 1 of an Eastern Conference semifinal on Wednesday night.

First, the Lightning will be hoping that their altered sleep plans can make a difference and keep their season alive.

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