Eastern Conf. Finals: Tampa Bay Lightning v New York Rangers

[WaukeeBlues]

Rangers in 7

The New York Rangers are in the Eastern Conference Final for the third time in the past four seasons and have a chance to become the first team since the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008 and 2009 to win the Prince of Wales Trophy two years in a row.

The Rangers earned this appearance with a 2-1 overtime win Wednesday in Game 7 of the second round against the Washington Capitals.

New York became the first team in NHL history to win a best-of-7 series after trailing 3-1 in back-to-back seasons. The Rangers defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round last season by winning the final three games.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are in the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2011, when they lost in seven games to the Boston Bruins. The Lightning haven't reached the Stanley Cup Final since 2004, when they won the championship with forward Martin St. Louis as their leading scorer and Dan Boyle as their top defenseman.

St. Louis and Boyle now play for New York. Former Rangers captain Ryan Callahan, center Brian Boyle and defenseman Anton Stralman now play for Tampa Bay.

Callahan was traded to the Lightning in a transaction that brought St. Louis to New York on March 5, 2014. Boyle and Stralman signed with the Lightning as free agents this summer after helping the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Final last season, where they lost to the Los Angeles Kings in five games.

The Rangers needed 12 games to reach this conference final. They eliminated the Penguins in five games in the first round and went the distance against the Capitals. Each of the games has been decided by one goal, including eight by a 2-1 score, and four in overtime. The Rangers are 6-2 in 2-1 games and 4-0 in overtime (all the OT games had a 2-1 score).

The Lightning needed 13 games to reach the conference final. They trailed the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in the first round before winning in seven games, and built a 3-0 lead against the Montreal Canadiens in the second round before clinching in Game 6.

Tampa Bay's line of Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat has combined for 17 goals and 14 assists.

Tampa Bay and New York have not played in five and a half months after playing three times between Nov. 17 and Dec. 1. Tampa Bay won all three by a combined 15-8.

"It's a team we had some problems with during the season," Lundqvist said. "But if there's one thing I learned, playoffs are a different story."

[glen a richter]

Big Ben will ring out loud and clear the Rags are going the hell down.

Lightning in 4, you heard it here first.

[WaukeeBlues]

Big Ben will ring out loud and clear the Rags are going the hell down.

Lightning in 4, you heard it here first.

Oh snap...

[Oaklandblue]

Marty St. Louis bookends his career, comes out hard and shuts up all the naysayers.

Expect seven games of pure war with the Rangers outlasting and rising above the adversity. King Henry is the real deal.

[glen a richter]

I get that Lundqvist is a good goalie and has put up excellent numbers in his career. I get that his lack of championships is largely due to his teams inability to score in front of him, and I also get that he'll probably end up with his name on the Cup this year, but that said he still hasn't won a damn thing in the NHL and that anyone refers to him as the King is just so aggravating. Jonathan Quick won two Cups putting up extraordinary numbers in the playoffs both times but no one calls him the King even though he plays for the Kings. Patrick Roy won multiple Cups, not to mention in his rookie season, but no one called him the King. I'm not saying this in praise of Quick or Roy, I'm saying that Lundqvist has hardly earned the nickname.

In any event, Tampa Bay's offense is simply too dominant. They're going to walk all over the Rangers just like they did to Montreal. And having already had one abysmal game that Bishop did, he's done with that. He doesn't want to get pulled again, he wants to win the whole damn thing and that he will. Bishop is going to outplay Lundqvist, Stamkos will outplay Nash, Krieder and Hagelin all by himself, and the Tampa defense will shut down whatever threats the Rangers pose. Lightning will strike in quadruplicate and the Rangers will be left scratching their heads trying to figure out what to do now that they wasted all those draft picks on St. Louis and Yandle, and Callahan will show the Rangers why trading him for a geriatric was a colossal mistake.

[gaijin]

I don't really think Tampa has the chops to outlast New York in a 7-game series. Then again, I didn't expect the Lightning to beat the Habs.

If Tampa is going to win this series, they will have to do it quickly- in 4 or 5 games. The longer the series goes on, the more it benefits the Rangers, as we saw in their series against the Caps.

Since I had picked the Habs to come out of the East for the Playoff Challenge, I no longer have a dog in this fight, so I hope Tampa wins.

[dmiles2186]

I get the thought process behind this, but nonetheless, ouch. He's going Brett Favre on Tampa.
https://twitter.com/ESPNJoeyMac/status/599261998669570049

[WaukeeBlues]

I get the thought process behind this, but nonetheless, ouch. He's going Brett Favre on Tampa.
https://twitter.com/ESPNJoeyMac/status/599261998669570049

Personally I love that. He's not wrong!

[glen a richter]

Even if it wasn't the Rags I'd still be pulling for Tampa Bay at this point. I was always overly supportive of Bishop and I feel like he should have been given more time and more opportunity to develop with the Blues instead of being pachinko'ed around. Not only did we screw the pooch with him, Ottawa did too. Tampa Bay fell into a bucket of gold, and here we are. So I'd be very happy to see him hoist the Cup if it can't be the Blues.

[dmiles2186]

Even if it wasn't the Rags I'd still be pulling for Tampa Bay at this point. I was always overly supportive of Bishop and I feel like he should have been given more time and more opportunity to develop with the Blues instead of being pachinko'ed around. Not only did we screw the pooch with him, Ottawa did too. Tampa Bay fell into a bucket of gold, and here we are. So I'd be very happy to see him hoist the Cup if it can't be the Blues.

I think it was a matter of bad timing. Here was a goalie in his early to mid 20's that was ready to make the jump to the NHL. We gave him a chance to beat Elliott in camp, he couldn't do it. When he got called up and played, he wasn't spectacular. This also coincided with Halak and Elliott being (statistically) the best tandem in the league and William Jennings trophy winners. Then you factor in that Allen and Binnington were right behind him and you've got a man caught in the middle.

He got his chance in Ottawa and that just seemed to prove he was a late bloomer. I'm with you, I'm pulling for him. I want to see him do well and I've never had a 'Oh, woe is me!' attitude that I have with other Blues players that have gone on to success elsewhere (because of the circumstances above). Nonetheless, he's making the most of this opportunity and it's great to see.

[Oaklandblue]

I get that Lundqvist is a good goalie and has put up excellent numbers in his career. I get that his lack of championships is largely due to his teams inability to score in front of him, and I also get that he'll probably end up with his name on the Cup this year, but that said he still hasn't won a damn thing in the NHL and that anyone refers to him as the King is just so aggravating. Jonathan Quick won two Cups putting up extraordinary numbers in the playoffs both times but no one calls him the King even though he plays for the Kings. Patrick Roy won multiple Cups, not to mention in his rookie season, but no one called him the King. I'm not saying this in praise of Quick or Roy, I'm saying that Lundqvist has hardly earned the nickname.

In any event, Tampa Bay's offense is simply too dominant. They're going to walk all over the Rangers just like they did to Montreal. And having already had one abysmal game that Bishop did, he's done with that. He doesn't want to get pulled again, he wants to win the whole damn thing and that he will. Bishop is going to outplay Lundqvist, Stamkos will outplay Nash, Krieder and Hagelin all by himself, and the Tampa defense will shut down whatever threats the Rangers pose. Lightning will strike in quadruplicate and the Rangers will be left scratching their heads trying to figure out what to do now that they wasted all those draft picks on St. Louis and Yandle, and Callahan will show the Rangers why trading him for a geriatric was a colossal mistake.

Henrik is the ONLY netminder in the history of the NHL to have seven consecutive 30+ win seasons. Of the 9 years he has played, 8 have been 30+ win seasons. He is .920 for his career this far (.922 playoffs), owns Olympic Gold, a Vezina (nominated 5 times for it) and some other prestigious awards. I think the King title from the Rangers is WELL justified.

[WaukeeBlues]

Brian Boyle looks just like the V for Vendetta guy...

[Oaklandblue]

Rangers take Game 1! What a game!

[dmiles2186]

Part of me hopes the Rangers win, because should the Hawks win the West, I don't think Tampa stands a chance. And I'm all about the Hawks losing more than anyone else winning.

Sorry glen.

[Oaklandblue]

The Lightning are STORMING their way back into the fight. Rangers ain't giving up. Pure war, gang. Woo!!


Edit: 6-2. Will the Rangers come back? Of course, this is seven games of WAR. Awesome!

[WaukeeBlues]

Tyler Johnson is a playoff man beast. He has impressed me all playoffs. The dude just kills it. Over and over and over.

[glen a richter]

That's what I'm talking about! Lightning showed what you need to do against the so called king. Keep forcing the Rags into dumb mistakes, make Lundqvist uncomfortable, crash the net, score in buckets, rinse, repeat. And stop taking so many penalties. This sucker should be over in 5, Lightning coming out on top.

Rags fans were complaining about all the one goal games. How about a four goal game... work better? It does for me.

[glen a richter]

I'm not faulting Bishop for goals 1 and 2 and I didn't see any of the other 9 goals because I had a wicked headache and just wanted to go to sleep. But I can say this: the Lightning have it figured out, how to play in this era. Whether they win the series or not, they've put up 12 goals in 123 and a half minutes against one of the best goalies in the game. That's unbelievable in the playoffs that a team like the Rangers allows that to happen, and there's little indication that they'll be able to keep it from happening in game 4 or 5, moving forward. If they weren't able to hold their early 2 goal lead, that speaks volumes about what Tampa Bay can and will do. Game 1 was just an aberration based on TB being awestruck by the big city or something. What they do need to do is tighten up the defense a tad. The offense will do their part, but they need to keep the goals against to a minimum, and not allow an opportunity to be down 2 after 4 shots.

The Blues, and a lot of other teams too for that matter, would be wise to look to the Lightning model as where this game is headed moving forward. Blues v Lightning in a 7 game series wouldn't have even been close. We'd be losing every game 5 or 6 zip.

[theohall]

The Lightning run the same variation for entering the zone and getting a shot towards the net over and over and over again.

One forward crosses the line, goes towards the net, slows dead center in the slot. This is a constant when they aren't attacking off a break or something. The variations involve
a) getting the puck back to the point and shooting the puck low at the guy in the slot looking for the deflection
b) getting the puck to the guy in the center from the corners or wall.
c) use the guy in the center as a decoy if the defense collapsed on him and work a shot from the circle.

I do not recall how many times the Lightning shot at their guy in the slot from the point, but it was often. It forces the D to play in front of their goalie and if one of the pair reads wrong, the corners or behind the net suddenly becomes an easy get, instead of a board battle. And the Lightning don't wait to "setup" in the zone. They get the puck to the front quickly darn near every time - even if someone is in the shooting lane, they force the puck in front.

IMO, the problem with the Blues is this idiotic notion of cycling in the corners waiting for something to change out front. Guess what? The opponent doesn't have to worry about you skating around in the corner if they defend the front.

The other thing being the Blues rarely tried forcing the puck in front. It's always work the outside and wait for an opening - which don't exist in today's NHL. You have to shoot through the defenders.

[theohall]

The offense will do their part, but they need to keep the goals against to a minimum, and not allow an opportunity to be down 2 after 4 shots.

The first penalty call which gave the Rags that early PPG was a joke. Two guys shove. The Lightning guy puts his mitt in the Rags face, not even a punch, and the ref calls a roughing minor?? Hard to fault the Lightning on that call, IMO.

2nd goal allowed - not so much. They blew the change. Idiot announcers kept talking about the contact at center ice being the reason for the break. It wasn't. The Lightning only had 4 guys on the bench at one point and it took forever for the 5th guy to get on the ice, which is what kept him from being able to get in position to stop the break. Don't know what happened on the bench, but you clearly see one guy jump off the ice and nobody jumped on for a decent amount of time and no one had gone on before the guy jumped off the ice. Just a horrible line change. It happens.

The Bolts style of play does lead to breaks occasionally and they rely on their D and goalie to save them. That being said, Tyler Johnson is a damn freak. He busts up stuff in the D zone creating his own offensive chances. Kinda crazy he went undrafted, just NHL GMs unable to get over their size bias.