Bonjour, y’all! I don’t even know where to start. Last night, on the strength of one shorthanded goal from French Canadian Yanni Gourde and a shutout from Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Tampa Bay Lightning found a way to eke out a Game 7 victory over the New York Islanders, 1-0. The records came rolling in:

Let’s make it four, Vasy.

In case you missed the recap, it is here:

Lightning will return to the Stanley Cup Final after 1-0 Game Seven victory

At even strength, the Lightning were suffocating the New York offense. Even when they could get into the zone, there just wasn’t much for them to look at. Case in point, with about three minutes to in the period Mathew Barzal had the puck on his stick. He dipped and weaved around on the ice, but couldn’t find an opportunity. He finally dished it off to Jordan Eberle whose shot was blocked and cleared by the Lightning. The Bolts structure in their own zone was textbook defense.

And the Islander’s version:

Lightning 1, Islanders 0: Tampa returns to Cup final, ending Isles’ run in Game 7

Alas, this rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference final ends with the same ultimate result — the Lightning return to the Stanley Cup final — but this one went seven games instead of six, and the Isles pushed the defending champions as far as you can without taking them down. Both franchises had the added joy of actually having fans present to make it all feel real.

Some stats from Micah:

Here are a few other notable moments from last night:

There was a little bit of controversy about touching the Prince of Wales.

But history is apparently on the side of the touch-ers:

And let’s just stare at this again:

Last but not least, here’s what to look forward to, the game schedule for the Stanley Cup Final.

There is a lot of very serious news going on right now in Miami, in the world, in hockey, and everywhere, but today we’re going to pause and enjoy each step of the way. Last year’s Stanley Cup victory came without a single one of us cheering on the team in person — this year we get a chance to support the team safely, and I am grateful.

Au revoir pour le moment!