The Tampa Bay Lightning know the grind.

Back in the Eastern Conference final for the third time in four years Shawn Williams Jersey , the Atlantic Division winners led the NHL in scoring this season but have been even more impressive defensively through the first two rounds of the playoffs.

”I think if people looked at our team in the regular season … we had the most goals scored in the league or close to it. So, we’re kind of looked at as that team, the high-flying Bolts that can score and defense isn’t really important to them,” coach Jon Cooper said.

”To us, all along it has been (important). To win in the playoffs, you have to have that,” Cooper added. ”Probably the one thing that’s gone under the radar is how physical we’ve been in both series. I think that’s really helped the cause to where we were. It’s difficult in an 82-game season to bring that kind of intensity every single night. In the playoffs guys are more dialed in.”

Sunday’s 3-1 victory closed out the team’s second-round matchup against the Boston Bruins in five games.

Coming off a week’s rest, the Lightning allowed six goals in losing Game 1.

Over the last three games of the series, including a pair of wins in Boston, Tampa Bay neutralized the Bruins’ high-scoring line of Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak while not allowing an even-strength goal.

Much of the credit goes to the line of Brayden Point, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat, which rebounded from yielding 11 points to the Bergeron line in the series opener to move than hold their own against the Boston trio the rest of the way.

”It’s a four-line effort. You have to have depth. You have to have it. It’s the way everybody bought into their rolls and contributed,” Cooper said.

The Lightning’s depth also showed offensively Blake Bortles Jersey , with 12 players combining to score 17 goals in the second round.

Point, J.T. Miller and Anton Stralman scored in Sunday’s clincher against Boston.

”For sure, you don’t expect to come in and beat a team like that in four straight games after dropping the first one. We expected a long series,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. ”I don’t think any team goes in thinking you are going to clean out a team in the second round in five, but it happened. When you play the right way, you get rewarded for it.”

Tampa Bay is the eighth team since 1998 to reach a conference final three times in a four-year span.

The Lightning defeated the New York Rangers in 2015, advancing to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to Chicago in six games. They lost the 2016 East final to the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games.

”It’s good, but it will be gratifying if we win two more series,” forward Ryan Callahan said. ”We’ve been here before, so the shock and awe of really getting this far really isn’t there. We are happy with our first two series, but there is so much more work to do and we realize that.”

The Lightning will face either Washington or defending champion Pittsburgh. The Capitals lead that semifinal series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Monday night.

”We’ll watch it for sure, but I think the most important thing at the end of the day is just getting our rest,” Point said Kerry Hyder Jersey , looking ahead. ”We’re going to be ready when our time comes, hopefully prepare well, and play some good games.”

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The pageantry and patriotism accompanying the buildup to the Minnesota Twins' home opener forced a pause for James Paxton in his warmup routine, leaving the Seattle starting pitcher standing alone in left field while a giant flag was unfurled nearby.

The bald eagle brought in for a ceremonial flight over the field was the final piece of the pregame pomp, prior to the playing of the national anthem.

Well, the big bird didn't want to visit the mound, perhaps wary of Major League Baseball's new rule limiting such trips to keep the pace of play. Instead, it picked out another target at Target Field.

And Paxton wound up as the landing spot, sticking its talons into his back.

"I guess the eagle knew I was Canadian. I don't know. But it came for me," the left-hander said on Thursday evening after the Twins rallied past the Mariners 4-2 .

Even on a 38-degree afternoon against a big-swinging lineup, the toughest task for Paxton might have been keeping his composure during that startling moment before the game when the pastime of bird watching took on a whole new meaning.

"Figured I'm not going to outrun an eagle," Paxton said. "So might as well see what happens."

Rather than soaring to the mound to reach his summoning handlers, the bird took a path straight toward Paxton, causing him to jerk his upper body backward to avoid being grazed. Then the eagle Glover Quin Jersey , named Challenger, landed in the grass before circling back to find a perch on Paxton's right shoulder . One of the trainers hustled out to lure the bird safely away and make sure Paxton was all right.

"I kind of ducked it so it wouldn't fly into my face. It was, I think, trying to stand on my back," Paxton said. "And then I thought, 'OK, if I can stand up slowly, maybe it'll just rest on my shoulder. But as I stood up, he kind of fell off my back a little bit and was kind of clawing to try to get back up on my shoulder. But then as I stood straight up, it fell back onto the ground."

So he simply resumed warming up.

"The talons, I don't think, punctured me. They were kind of sharp on my back. I don't have any scratches, I don't believe," Paxton said. "That's not the first time I've seen a bald eagle Byron Jones Jersey , but it was the first time I've had one try to land on me."

Talk about poise under pressure.

"I was just standing there, trying not to panic," he said.

Both teams had a good time reliving the moment. Mariners manager Scott Servais said he thought fellow starting pitcher Felix Hernandez would have run away. Twins center fielder Byron Buxton had no trouble admitting that would have been his reaction, too.

"When I saw him like perk up on Paxton's arm, I'm gone," Buxton said. "He wouldn't have a chance to get on my shoulder."

Twins catcher Mitch Garver said the large-talon landing was "terrifying." Twins closer Fernando Rodney joked about using one of the imaginary arrows he shoots into the air after converting a save to try to bring down the bird.

"When I saw that, I said, 'Wow,'" Rodney said. "That's baseball. A lot of things happen."

Minnesota fans, meanwhile, could probably appreciate an eagle-free sporting event at this point. The Vikings lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC championship game this winter, of course, before the Eagles came to Minneapolis two weeks later to win their first Super Bowl.

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