He was our best player all year long and again in this series,” Gallant said. We got outchanced in a lot of the games but he was outstanding. Shesterkin, meanwhile, stopped 29 of 31 shots and made big save after big save to give New York a chance. He faced just seven shots in the opening period, six in the second and eight in the third. Vasilevskiy went long stretches without being tested.
It was a different story Saturday night, with the Lightning limiting New York’s scoring opportunities while outshooting the Rangers 31-21. They lost the first two on the road at Carolina before rebounding to oust the Hurricanes in seven games to reach the East final. New York dropped three of the first four games before winning three straight elimination games to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the opening round. “They found a way to get the big goal at the big time.” But we played well, we battled hard, we had a chance to win all those games,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. The only teams to win more elimination games in a single postseason were the 1975 New York Islanders (eight), 2014 Los Angeles Kings (seven) and 2003 Minnesota Wild (six).
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The Rangers, down 3-2 in a series for the third straight round, were 5-0 in elimination games this postseason before Saturday night. They are trying to become the first to win three straight championships since the New York Islanders claimed four in a row from 1980-83. The Lightning are the first team to make three consecutive appearances in the Cup final since Edmonton did it from 1983-85. That was the feeling we had from puck drop.” “I was just confident in our group that we would find a way, whether it was in regulation or was in overtime. … It’s easy to say now, but for some reason I wasn’t as rattled as I usually am in those situations,” Stamkos said. “I obviously was a little disappointed in myself for taking the penalty. Stamkos also scored on a wrist shot from the top of the right circle midway through the second period.
Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat assisted on the winner with 6 1/2 minutes left, with the puck deflecting off Stamkos’ knee into the net after Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin stopped the initial shot. Stamkos put the Lightning ahead for good in the third period just 21 seconds after New York’s Frank Vatrano scored on the power play with the Lightning captain in the penalty box for holding. “And the fact that they they have every excuse in the world to not win because nobody would fault them by saying hey, you won one, you won two, and to come back and and go for a third. … I’m just utterly impressed by what they do to win a hockey game,” the coach added. “It’s probably not the greatest word to use, but I’m damn impressed by this group,” coach Jon Cooper said. Stamkos scored two goals and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 20 saves for the 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 Cup final. “You’re still not at the end of our goal, but in saying that this group is pretty amazing and pretty special.” “It’s going to be tough to get out of the moment and look back and realize what a special group we have here because there’s still some games to be played,” Stamkos said. With captain Steven Stamkos leading the way, the two-time defending champions beat the New York Rangers 2-1 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final Saturday night, securing a berth in the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year. The Tampa Bay Lightning’s bid for a three-peat is alive and well.
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