Wayne Gretzky has seen it all on the ice, and his experience has led him to compare the Tampa Bay Lightning, who aregunning for a three-peat in the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals, with the Edmonton Oilers' rivals in the 1980s — the legendary New York Islanders.

Via Joe Smith of The Athletic:

“Their resilience is a lot like that team, the Islanders of the 80s,” Gretzky said, “in a sense that, they can play you skating, they can play you defensive, they can play you physical. And like Billy Smith, like Grant Fuhr, this goalie (Andrei Vasilevskiy) is really special. The bigger the game, the better he seems to play. They have it in their minds that they can’t lose.

“And their work ethic is extraordinary. You watch them play, they play hard every shift. They play unselfish.”

Even though the Lightning are the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions, they are the underdogs in the matchup against the Colorado Avalanche, going into the series, which begins this Tuesday in Denver.

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In the first round, the Lightning evaded a close call by beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games, winning the last game in enemy territory after trailing the series 3-2. In the second round, Tampa Bay somehow dug deep enough to not only eliminate the Presidents' Trophy-winning Florida Panthers but do so in just four games. Then in the 2022 Eastern Conference finals, the Lightning got up from 2-0 down in the series to win four games in a row to take out the New York Rangers.

Gretzky is right. The Lightning have been chameleon-ic in the playoffs. They are able to adapt to the situation, still play to their strengths, and win tough one tough series after another. It's also a testament to the deft handling of the team by head coach Jon Cooper.

The final test for the Lightning will be the Avalanche, who will be the last obstacle between Tampa Bay and a rare NHL three-peat.