All things considered, I'm not sure anyone should have expected the Tampa Bay Lightning to make it this far into the playoffs. Why, with the next two games at home, and the team only three wins away from their second consecutive berth in the Stanley Cup Finals, I'd tip my hat.
Personally, I wasn't about to bet the farm that Tampa made it through two rounds. There was the never-ending Steven Stamkos saga. Will he be back next year? Had he played his last game (In the regular season, no less) for the Lightning. Without him, the Lightning were the favourites still over the Red Wings in the first round. And due to their lack of experience, you would have picked the Islanders to lose to the Lightning in the Conference Semis. A tough long series each, though. Without Stamkos, there always seemed to be that feeling that they were upset prone.
Then we forgot about Ben Bishop. The tall goalie proved last year that he could get in shooters' heads in the playoffs. At least, that's what it appeared to me. You could just see Detroit, Montreal, New York (Rangers) and even Chicago in the finals get a little flustered by the tall goaltender. The question was, despite his strong regular season in 2015/16, "Was it all a fluke?" We soon found out.
He slammed the door shut on Detroit. Last year, it took Ben seven games to help Tampa win. This year, just five. But, the games were close. The upstart Islanders stole game one on the road, and looked poised to give the Lightning all they could handle the rest of was surely going to be a long series. But Tampa was clutch. The won both games three and four in overtime on enemy ice, then finished 'em off via a 4-0 Bishop shutout. In just ten games, they were back in the conference finals.
So, next came the Pittsburgh Penguins. In game one (On the road), Bishop was Bishop again, making many-a-rapier-style saves. The Pens had a five-minute man advantage, and Ben wasn't letting 'em in or letting up. But then, at 12:22 of the first, after extending his consecutive shots stoppped streak to 59 with 9 thwarts, it was the tall goalie going down in agony. Ben had to be stretchered off. Were the Bolts done? No way. In to the Tampa net came Andrei Vasilevskiy, and he picked up where Ben Bishop left off.
The Lightning seemed to be inspired by the new netminder, playing in just his sixth career postseason contest. He turned aside 25 of 26 shots (The only one that got past him was scored late in the second, by which time it was 3-0 Tampa), giving the Tampa Bay twosome a combined 34 saves on the night. And they stole one in enemy territory. Again.
Vas, the great #88, was awesome again in the second contest. He gave up a pair of early goals, and then stopped everything that came his way through sixty minutes. 38 of 40 shots. The team has line depth. Apparently, the Lightning also have depth in goal. Down 2-0, Tampa Bay tied the game before the first period was even over, and stayed with Pittsburgh all the way until forty seconds of overtime. There, Sidney Crosby scored his first goal of the series (Amazingly enough, at the exact same time that the great Bobby Orr scored his famous OT winner against St. Louis way back in 1970). But really now, the Lightning got a split. Sure, 2-0 heading home is great, but does anyone here think Pittsburgh is taking both games on the road? The longer this series goes, the better Tampa's odds are if you ask me.
Bishop isn't playing in game three. The way Vasilevskiy has played, he might not have to play again this series. The Penguins are going with their third-string goalie named Matt Murray, who in my opinion has been outplayed in the last four games (Yes, even in the Washington series, he was the second best goalie the last two contest, although he played great in the clinching, sixth game). Yes, he too has risen to the occasion. But this series is destined for six or seven games (Maybe fewer if Tampa captures 'em both at home), and it could lead to the return of both Ben Bishop and Steven Stamkos. The Pens big guns of Crosby and Evgeni Malkin aren't playing up to their capabilities, and as long as that continues the Lighting have the edge. Jonathan Drouin had all sorts of problems with immaturity earlier this season, and appeared to be on his way off the Tampa Bay Lightning. All he's done since his return is collected 11 points in 12 games, doing just as well as Crosby and getting better with every game. Earlier this year, he acted a bit like a two-year old. Now, the 21-year old has contributed and carried the slack in Stamkos' absence, much the same as Vasilevskiy has in Bishop's time away. This Lightning team is appearing in their third Conference Finals this decade alone, having also lost to the Boston Bruins in seven games back in 2011 (The team won in 2004, although no player from that team is on the current roster). Those two have another partner in crime. Tyler Johnson had just 38 points in 69 games in the regular season. But here in the 2016 postseason, Johnson is tops on Tampa with 13 points in 12 games played. He's one of five players with 10 or more points on the Lightning.
References
"NHL Fights From May 13, 2016 Tampa Bay-Pittsburgh." Drop Your Gloves: Hockey Fights, Stats, Reviews And Trading. 13 May 2016. Web. 18 May 2016. <http://dropyourgloves.com/Fights/ GameEvents.aspx?Game=559057>.
"Official Site of the National Hockey League." NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 18 May 2016. <https://www.nhl.com>.
Rosen, Dan. "Lightning Not Satisfied With Split To Open Series." Official Home Of The Tampa Bay Lightning. National Hockey League. 18 May 2016. Web. 18 May 2016.
Sports Reference LLC. Hockey-Reference.com - Hockey Statistics and History. http://www.hockey-reference.com/. Web. 18 May 2016.
Personally, I wasn't about to bet the farm that Tampa made it through two rounds. There was the never-ending Steven Stamkos saga. Will he be back next year? Had he played his last game (In the regular season, no less) for the Lightning. Without him, the Lightning were the favourites still over the Red Wings in the first round. And due to their lack of experience, you would have picked the Islanders to lose to the Lightning in the Conference Semis. A tough long series each, though. Without Stamkos, there always seemed to be that feeling that they were upset prone.
Then we forgot about Ben Bishop. The tall goalie proved last year that he could get in shooters' heads in the playoffs. At least, that's what it appeared to me. You could just see Detroit, Montreal, New York (Rangers) and even Chicago in the finals get a little flustered by the tall goaltender. The question was, despite his strong regular season in 2015/16, "Was it all a fluke?" We soon found out.
He slammed the door shut on Detroit. Last year, it took Ben seven games to help Tampa win. This year, just five. But, the games were close. The upstart Islanders stole game one on the road, and looked poised to give the Lightning all they could handle the rest of was surely going to be a long series. But Tampa was clutch. The won both games three and four in overtime on enemy ice, then finished 'em off via a 4-0 Bishop shutout. In just ten games, they were back in the conference finals.
So, next came the Pittsburgh Penguins. In game one (On the road), Bishop was Bishop again, making many-a-rapier-style saves. The Pens had a five-minute man advantage, and Ben wasn't letting 'em in or letting up. But then, at 12:22 of the first, after extending his consecutive shots stoppped streak to 59 with 9 thwarts, it was the tall goalie going down in agony. Ben had to be stretchered off. Were the Bolts done? No way. In to the Tampa net came Andrei Vasilevskiy, and he picked up where Ben Bishop left off.
The Lightning seemed to be inspired by the new netminder, playing in just his sixth career postseason contest. He turned aside 25 of 26 shots (The only one that got past him was scored late in the second, by which time it was 3-0 Tampa), giving the Tampa Bay twosome a combined 34 saves on the night. And they stole one in enemy territory. Again.
Vas, the great #88, was awesome again in the second contest. He gave up a pair of early goals, and then stopped everything that came his way through sixty minutes. 38 of 40 shots. The team has line depth. Apparently, the Lightning also have depth in goal. Down 2-0, Tampa Bay tied the game before the first period was even over, and stayed with Pittsburgh all the way until forty seconds of overtime. There, Sidney Crosby scored his first goal of the series (Amazingly enough, at the exact same time that the great Bobby Orr scored his famous OT winner against St. Louis way back in 1970). But really now, the Lightning got a split. Sure, 2-0 heading home is great, but does anyone here think Pittsburgh is taking both games on the road? The longer this series goes, the better Tampa's odds are if you ask me.
Bishop isn't playing in game three. The way Vasilevskiy has played, he might not have to play again this series. The Penguins are going with their third-string goalie named Matt Murray, who in my opinion has been outplayed in the last four games (Yes, even in the Washington series, he was the second best goalie the last two contest, although he played great in the clinching, sixth game). Yes, he too has risen to the occasion. But this series is destined for six or seven games (Maybe fewer if Tampa captures 'em both at home), and it could lead to the return of both Ben Bishop and Steven Stamkos. The Pens big guns of Crosby and Evgeni Malkin aren't playing up to their capabilities, and as long as that continues the Lighting have the edge. Jonathan Drouin had all sorts of problems with immaturity earlier this season, and appeared to be on his way off the Tampa Bay Lightning. All he's done since his return is collected 11 points in 12 games, doing just as well as Crosby and getting better with every game. Earlier this year, he acted a bit like a two-year old. Now, the 21-year old has contributed and carried the slack in Stamkos' absence, much the same as Vasilevskiy has in Bishop's time away. This Lightning team is appearing in their third Conference Finals this decade alone, having also lost to the Boston Bruins in seven games back in 2011 (The team won in 2004, although no player from that team is on the current roster). Those two have another partner in crime. Tyler Johnson had just 38 points in 69 games in the regular season. But here in the 2016 postseason, Johnson is tops on Tampa with 13 points in 12 games played. He's one of five players with 10 or more points on the Lightning.
References
"NHL Fights From May 13, 2016 Tampa Bay-Pittsburgh." Drop Your Gloves: Hockey Fights, Stats, Reviews And Trading. 13 May 2016. Web. 18 May 2016. <http://dropyourgloves.com/Fights/ GameEvents.aspx?Game=559057>.
"Official Site of the National Hockey League." NHL.com. National Hockey League. Web. 18 May 2016. <https://www.nhl.com>.
Rosen, Dan. "Lightning Not Satisfied With Split To Open Series." Official Home Of The Tampa Bay Lightning. National Hockey League. 18 May 2016. Web. 18 May 2016.
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