In the spring of 2015, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Rangers faced off in the Eastern Conference Finals. The two teams, at the time, were in very different places: the Lightning had just come out as Cup contenders with Jon Cooper at the helm, while the Rangers were desperate to keep the window open.
Seven years later, these clubs are back on the same stage. And, properly, they have taken two very different paths here. The Lightning arrive as consecutive Stanley Cup champions, while the Rangers are coming off a full roster and a reception review since their last trip to this stage.
This year, the Rangers have beaten Tampa in all three regular-season games and are playing an especially exciting hockey mark: their best games come when they have their backs against the wall. In the meantime, the Lightning have gone through Round 2 and have had plenty of time to rest … and we are about to find out if this is good or not.
No matter how different their paths have been to get here, these teams show many similarities: we are about to see a clash of two high-scoring offenses whose arsenal of weapons is deep and includes some performances of awesome special equipment. But perhaps most importantly, we are about to find out what happens when the Lightning face a goalkeeper who could potentially be as good as his.
Seven years ago, it was Lightning who came out on top, sending the Rangers to pack their bags at Madison Square Garden in Game 7 and effectively closing out the last best chance of winning that core. What story will this series tell?
Here’s what you need to know about this Eastern Conference final between Tampa Bay and New York.
HEAD TO HEAD RECORD
Lightning: 0-2-1
Rangers: 3-0-0
What we have learned about lightning
The consecutive Stanley Cup champions are still hungry and are proving once again that they can defeat the clubs anyway.
Against the Maple Leafs, the attack was fully demonstrated before Andrei Vasilevsky (almost completely) closed the door in Game 7. Against Florida, Vasilevsky looked like a brick wall, the Lightning drowning the previously powerful attack of the Panthers.
Against the Rangers, who boast of a spade offensive and a goalkeeper also capable of stealing games, they may have to implement both.
The team’s success through two rounds of play follows a pattern similar to that of the past two years, relying on the elite attack led by Nikita Kucherov, a clever blue line with Victor Hedman in the at the front, a tough group of depth scorers who can bring skill when the front lines are tied and an otherworldly goalkeeper of Conn Smythe’s 2021 winner Vasilevskiy. There are even parallels in the obstacles they face: two years ago, the team had to play almost the entire playoff series without captain Steven Stamkos. This year, Brayden Point is running out of time. Point missed the entire second round after suffering an injury in Game 7 against Toronto. It’s still unclear if Point will be available at some point in this conference finale, but he doesn’t feel optimistic.
Head coach Jon Cooper has said that overall they are much more affected this year than in previous playoffs right now. Relieving the load of blows and bruises is the depth that the team has again. The presence of six intermediate acquisitions such as Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul, who have already been seen up and down the lineup alongside Ondrej Palat, Corey Perry and Ross Colton, has already shown that it is worth the trade costs. , and like the team. Depth continues to be tested, likely to continue to grow as did the club’s previous third-trio trio of Yanni Groude, Barclay Goodrow and Blake Coleman.
The most important question here is not really about the lineup or the style of play, it is the millennial debate of the break against rust, which, in the first two rounds of the Team Cup, have not treaty.
So quick was their loss to the Panthers, they have had more than a week off between sets considering the Rangers needed seven full games to beat the Hurricanes.
“It’s really a little different. We’ve had a good race here over the last decade, and unfortunately I’ve been on the side of the sweep – the bad end – a couple of times, but never in the good end. So that’s been a little bit different for us, “Cooper said during an appearance on The Jeff Marek Show last week.
“I don’t know if I love to have that great break, just because yes, you have the kind of physical appearance to try to heal yourself as much as you can, but as much as that there’s that mental aspect that worries you and the advantage and being in the fight and all those things that you naturally only lose when you have so much free time, “he continued.
We are about to get our answers.
What we learned about the Rangers
Striker Chris Kreider is best known for his goals rather than his post-game notes, but he summed up the Rangers’ post-season efforts perfectly after New York’s 7th game win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday. at night:
“We’re not leaving.”
True, they don’t. They didn’t go against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had them on the verge of elimination for three straight games in Round 1; and they didn’t do it against the hurricanes, which had them right where they wanted them: at home! – In Game 7 of Round 2, giving Carolina their first home game of the playoffs. In two rounds, New York played five playoff games, including two Games 7, and got the win each time thanks to the clutch performances throughout the lineup.
Leading the way in the attack in these essential matches are Mika Zibanejad, who has scored four goals and added 11 points in five qualifiers and competitions to win series, and Kreider, who has played twice in several matches in these matches, including two. to seal the deal Monday night against the hurricanes. In defense, Adam Fox leads the way: he has been sensational all season, but he is at his best in the most difficult situations, adding 10 points in five games on the edge. Fox leads all defenses in goals (five) and points (13) in two rounds and also leads all NHL teammates (with eight or more NHL games to his name) in half-time ice, with 26:48 per night.
Of course, we can’t talk about clutching without singing the praises of Igor Shesterkin. Shesterkin was shaken at times in the first round against Pittsburgh – and, boy, the fans let him know – but it’s been very clear since he returned to his comfort zone. That his comfort zone seems to be high-risk situations, with more than 30 records flying at him every night, is music to the ears of the Rangers. Shesterkin, who is by far the favorite to claim the Vezina Trophy this year thanks to his regular season heroism, has taken a step into New York in the most important situations. The young goalkeeper has faced 100 more shots than the next busiest goalkeeper (Mike Smith, with 411 this season so far) and yet has achieved the second best percentage of stops among goalkeepers who have seen action in two rounds (.928).
The goalkeeper who is currently setting the pace is the man he will face through the ice, in Vasilevsky. (More on this goalie clash later.)
ADVANCED STATISTICS
5-on-5 knockout numbers using Natural Stat Trick
PLAYOFF TEAM STATISTICS
Lightning X-Factor: Andrei Vasilevskiy
Vasilevsky, once again, is in playoff mode. After battling the Maple Leafs in Round 1 a few times, the Lightning goalkeeper has returned to his Vezina-worthy Conn Smythe caliber, leaving only four goals in his last five games, starting with Game 7 against the Maple Leafs. Leafs. He held the Panthers to just three goals in total, one per game in the first three games of Round 2, before closing them off completely in the fourth.
The Rangers have had to conquer some impressive goalkeeping performances, but they still have to fix their efforts on a de facto number 1: injuries prompted the Penguins to turn the fold and turn to Louis Domingue, the third shooter, while worries similar ones saw Carolina coming in. Debutant Pyotr Kochetkov at times, with Antti Raanta taking over the fold without regular season starter Frederik Andersen.
New York met every challenge, eventually solving all the goalkeepers in the net, but none has the trajectory shown in the playoffs of Vasilevskiy.
Rangers X-Factor: Igor Shesterkin
So how does Vasilevsky solve it? You may not be able to, maybe the only way to defeat him is to match him save to save, and the only goalkeeper potentially capable of that is Shesterkin.
It may be a little too obvious to point to the goalkeeper as the main story of this series, but it’s not often that we come across a confrontation as elite as this one. If you were to pick a goalie clash for a high-stakes playoff series, it would be this one, with last year’s Conn Smythe winner in Tampa Bay and this year’s favorite for Vezina, and the same contender. of Conn Smythe, New York. .
Igor Shesterkin becomes the third goalkeeper in the history of #NYR with multiple victories in Game 7:
Henrik Lundqvist – 6-2Mike Richter – 2-0Igor Shesterkin – 2-0 pic.twitter.com/5mY45KdRZY
– Sportsnet Statistics (@SNstats) May 31, 2022
Shesterkin was amazing throughout the regular season, and the main reason the club came into the postseason. Although he fought in the first round, he has found his way and is playing with the kind of bragging that has been done on Broadway. The busier he is, and the more he bets, the better he plays: he has already won five elimination games this season and …