The Tampa Bay Lightning offer for a three-peat is alive and well.
With captain Steven Stamkos at the helm, the two-time defending side beat the New York Rangers 2-1 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Saturday night, securing a place in the final of the Stanley Cup for the third year in a row.
“It will be difficult to get out of the moment and look back and realize the special group we have here because there are still some games left to play,” Stamkos said. “You’re not at the end of our goal yet, but saying this group is pretty amazing and pretty special.”
Stamkos scored two goals and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for Lightning, who won the series 4-2 – winning four straight games after losing the first two on the road – and will face the Colorado Avalanche in the final. of the Cup.
Game 1 is Wednesday night in Denver.
“It’s probably not the best word to use, but I’m very impressed with this group,” coach Jon Cooper said.
“It’s impressive what they’ve done … I’m very impressed with what they do to win a hockey game,” the coach added. “And the fact that they have all the excuses in the world not to win because no one would blame them saying, ‘Hey, you’ve won one, you’ve won two, and to go back and go for a third. I’m impressed”.
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Stamkos finally advanced to the Lightning in the third period just 21 seconds after New Yorker Frank Vatrano scored in the power play with the Lightning captain in the penalty area to hold on.
Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat assisted the winner with 6 and a half minutes to go, with the record deflecting Stamkos’ knee into the net after Rangers goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin stopped the opening shot.
Stamkos also scored with a wrist from the top of the right circle midway through the second half.
“Obviously, I was a little disappointed with myself for doing the penalty … Now it’s easy to say, but for some reason I wasn’t as baffled as I used to be in these situations,” Stamkos said. “I was just confident in our group that we would find a way, whether in regulation or overtime. We deserved to win the game. That was the feeling we had of the fall of the record.”
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The Lightning are the first team to make three consecutive Cup final appearances since Edmonton did so between 1983 and 1985. They are trying to become the first to win three consecutive championships since the New York Islanders left. get four in a row between 1980 and 83.
The Rangers, 3-2 in a series for the third straight round, were 5-0 in the playoffs this postseason before Saturday night.
The only teams to win more playoffs in a single postseason were the 1975 New York Islanders (eight), the 2014 Los Angeles Kings (seven) and the 2003 Minnesota Wild (six).
“It’s difficult right now. But we played well, we fought a lot, we had a chance to win all these games,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “They’ve found a way to achieve the big goal at the big time.”
New York lost three of the first four games before winning three straight playoffs to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the opening round. They lost the first two on the road to Carolina before bouncing off the Hurricanes in seven games to reach the Eastern Finals.
It was a different story Saturday night, with Lightning limiting New York’s goal opportunities while beating the Rangers 31-21.
Vasilevsky did long stretches without being tested. He only faced seven shots in the first period, six in the second and eight in the third.
Shesterkin, meanwhile, stopped 29 of the 31 shots and made a great save after a great stop to give New York a chance.
“I thought Igor was great. He gave us a chance to win every night. We excelled in a lot of games, but he was exceptional. He was our best player all year and again in this series, “Gallant said.
“Shesterkin was amazing. He made some amazing stops to keep them going, but I think I just felt a reassuring presence because of the group,” Stamkos said. “It was just one of those nights where whether it was the next turn later, whether I scored or someone else scored, it was just the feeling that we would.”