For the third playoff series in a row, the Tampa Bay Lightning bounced back from losing Game Five to win Game Six and eliminate their opponent. For the second series in a row, Andrei Vasilevskiy posted a shutout in the elimination game. It was yet another series where the Lightning didn’t lose two games in a row.
Matt will have some more thoughts later in the day about the game, but for now it’s safe to say that Game Six was the best game of the bunch for the Bolts. They held their own at 5v5, scored on the power play, and limited the turnovers. That’s a formula they used to such success last season.
It was a stressful, albeit short series. So we’ll rest up for a few days and wait to see who they’re going to play next.
Some notes about the series:
- The Lightning are now 19-12 in potential series-clinching games
- The Lightning are 11-0 all-time when owning a 3-1 series lead
- It was the seventh shutout in a series-clinching win in franchise history
- Only players to have more than Victor Hedman’s 7 power play assists in a single series? Paul Coffey and Mario Lemieux who both had 8. That’s pretty good company
- Nikita Kucherov’s 11 points in this series is a franchise record for a single series
- Steven Stamkos had three multi-point games in this series/
Last Night’s Games:
New York wins series 4-2
The Penguins had the lead three different times in this game. Unfortunately for them the Islanders came back each and every time. They scored three times in three minutes in the second period to claim the lead for good and and send Pittsburgh packing. Sidney Crosby had two points (one goal, one assist) in the series.
Series tied at 3
The only elimination game where the would-be eliminee won. Cam Talbot posted 23 saves in the shutout while Ryan Hartman, Kevin Fiala, and Nick Bjugstad scored third period goals. The series moves back to Las Vegas for a decisive Game Seven.
Today’s Games
Canadiens at Maple Leafs 7:00pm EST, NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, SN
Toronto leads series 3-1
Hurricanes at Predators, 9:30pm EST, NBCSN, TVAS, SN360, BSSO
Carolina leads series 3-2
