When you’re tied for last place in the conference, you’ll take a little extra motivation from anywhere you can find it. 

The Tampa Bay Lightning watched the New England Patriots come from 25 points down to win the Super Bowl. 

Now it's the Bolts' time their turn to turn things around in the second half of the season.

“It seems silly to compare the two,” Lightning center Brian Boyle said.  “But I think they just kind of did what they had to do.  No one did more than they were asked and they did what they were supposed to do, and they executed.”

“That’s just the way sports are going this year,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said.  “Didn’t the Cubs do that? The Patriots did it.  Didn’t Cleveland do it?  So- why not Tampa?”

“It’s not over ‘til it’s over,” Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said.  “That’s kind of our approach going in to the rest of this year.  There are still 30 games left, and we know what we can do.”

There are 29 games left, to be exact.

But only eight remain before the March 1 trade deadline, when players like former All-Star goalie Ben Bishop could be dealt if a Stanley Cup run seems unlikely.

The Bolts are still six points out of a playoff spot, so they certainly need to pick up their play in a hurry.

“Everything’s on the line, and we know that,” Hedman said.  “So our playoff lives are still alive.  I don’t know what the percentages are, but we can do it.”

“You’ve got to have that competitiveness to not accept losing,” Boyle said.  “We need to give more energy, give more effort.”

Boyle, who’s a huge Patriots fan, said he saw a glimmer of hope early in the second half for his Pats prior to their thrilling comeback victory. 

He hopes for that same glimmer of hope in the eyes of his teammates as the Lightning approach crunch time.