Tampa's Ross Colton reveals what the turning point was in the Lightning's series against the Leafs

There was absolutely nothing for the Leafs to be ashamed about in that series. They pushed the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champs to the limit and they nearly beat them. Had Leafs/Lightning happened in the Eastern Conference Finals, I don't think anyone's batting an eyelash. That series was about as close as you'll find and, as I said, the chips were never down for the Leafs until they were completely gone.

On Wednesday, Lightning forward Ross Colton revealed that there was a bit of a turning point for the Bolts in that series. Colton said that Corey Perry called the players together and delivered a speech, stating that during the series with Dallas and the series with the Habs in each of the last two Stanley Cup Finals, the Bolts played the right way. Perry told the team that they didn't even realize how good they were and how hard they were to play against when they played the right way. Colton pointed to the results since that conversation happened as a pretty good indicator that the message was received.

Honestly, I'm still of the mindset that, if all things were equal and that if the officials made the calls that they should have made, the series probably doesn't even get to Game 7, with the Leafs winning in 6. But, as the saying goes.. "if if's and buts were candy and nuts.." - well, you know the rest.