TAMPA, Fla. -- If there is a team that can look at the New York Rangers' dominant Game 7 record and turn it into something to lick your chops about, it’s indeed these young Tampa Bay Lightning.

They’re not quite the young Edmonton Oilers of the early to mid-1980s, sticking their tongues out after scoring goals, but there’s something about these kids from Tampa that makes you think they relish the chance to write a little history Friday night at Madison Square Garden, where the Rangers are 7-0 in Game 7s.

"I guess that means they’re due to lose one, right?" mused Lightning winger Alex Killorn, 25, during a media call Wednesday.

No bold prediction a la Alex Ovechkin from this group -- and, frankly, enough of that already -- but there's certainly a sense from the Lightning that if you’re counting them out because they "blew" their chance at wrapping up the Eastern Conference finals in Game 6, you don’t know what makes them tick.

"We’ve got a pretty young, confident group, and when they’ve been pushed against the wall, they have found an unbelievable way to push back," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said Wednesday. "We’re looking for that again on Friday."

That same youth, however, has also been a detriment at times during these playoffs. Such as when the Bolts followed up an impressive Game 4 win at Detroit in the opening round with a dud at home in Game 5. Or when, after going up 3-0 in the series with the Montreal Canadiens in the second round, they responded by playing lousy in the next two games to suddenly give the Habs life.

Or when, after a remarkably dominant defensive performance in Game 5 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night, the Lightning got lit up 7-3 at home in Game 6.

The learning curve of a youthful squad -- with its tendency to take the foot off the gas after big, emotional wins -- is part of the process, but it’s also frustrating.

The Rangers are using their speed to try to control the Lightning. Al Bello/Getty Images

"It’s tough to explain," said Killorn. "I think it’s something we noticed earlier on in the playoffs. Whenever we have a big win, it seems maybe we get too high on ourselves. I don’t know what it is. Maybe you turn on the TV and everyone wants to tell you how good you are. Maybe that kind of goes to your head. But in Game 6, I don’t think we felt that at all. We came out strong. They just had a good surge in the third period and we weren’t able to handle it."

The Lightning can point to a few things for encouragement in the face of the Rangers’ daunting Game 7 pedigree. One is that the Bolts have actually been better on the road in these playoffs, 6-3 away and just 5-5 at home. The second is that the Bolts have won two out of three at MSG in this series and overall are 4-1 at New York this season.

"When you play on the road, you seem to play more of a simple game, get pucks deep," said Killorn. "I think at home maybe we try to make more plays. ... We’ve had a lot of success on the road, and hopefully we can do that in Game 7."

There’s also the matter of already having experienced a Game 7 in these playoffs, the first-round decider versus Detroit.

"Yeah, I think it was huge for this group," star blueliner Victor Hedman said Wednesday. "It was the first Game 7 for a lot of guys in the NHL. We had our backs against the wall in that series; we had to go in for a Game 6 in Detroit to win to bring it to Game 7. Just the way we played in those two games showed a lot about how we need to play to be successful. You know, we’re prepared for this, to play a Game 7 in the conference finals; we’re really excited about it. We’re obviously disappointed how the third period turned out [Tuesday], but if we can have the same effort we had in Game 5 in New York, I like our chances on Friday. Just real excited about it."

Another positive: the two off days before Game 7. There’s a bug going through the team and the extra rest will be beneficial.

"It’s tough. We’ve had a few guys under the weather, not that it’s any excuse," said Killorn. "Most of the guys have been ready for games. But these few days we have here will be huge, not only for injuries but for guys feeling kind of sick. We’re going to use these days to get our guys back healthy."

And finally, there’s perspective.

Go back to camp in September, take aside this young team that was swept in the opening round a year ago, and tell each player that the Bolts would have the chance eight months later to win one single game to book their ticket to the Stanley Cup finals.

I think you can imagine their response at the time.

"If anyone would have said before this season that we would have Game 7 in the conference finals to make it to the Stanley Cup finals, we would have taken it," said Hedman. "We’re looking forward to the game on Friday."

We all are.