Wayne Gretzky compares 2020s Lightning to Islanders of the 1980s as they look for 3rd straight Stanley Cup

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The Tampa Bay Lightning are back in the Stanley Cup Final for the third consecutive time and are looking to complete the NHL’s first three-peat since the New York Islanders won four straight from 1980 to 1983.

The Islanders comparisons are going to be a key part of the storyline for Tampa Bay heading into the final against the Colorado Avalanche and leading the praise is Wayne Gretzky, as "The Great One" compared the resiliency of the Lightning to that of the Islanders of the 1980s.

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Wayne Gretzky addresses fans prior to the 2020 NHL All-Star Skills Competition at Enterprise Center on January 24, 2020 in St Louis, Missouri. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

"Their resilience is a lot like that team, the Islanders of the 80s 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," Gretzky told The Athletic in a story published Monday.

"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."

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Head coach Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning talks with the team during a break in play against the New York Rangers during the third period in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on June 07, 2022 in Tampa, Florida. (Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Tampa Bay came back from a 2-0