The Lightning have now eliminated two great teams in the playoffs at home and are now headed to the Eastern Conference Finals. This will be the third time in franchise history and first time since 2011. They will either face the Washington Capitals or the New York Rangers, depending on who wins Game 7 of their tied series later tonight.
If the Capitals win, the Lightning will have home ice advantage, but if the Rangers win it’s off to New York for the Bolts; the Rangers won the conference and the Lightning finished ahead of the Caps in the regular season standings.
Going into last night’s game, the Lightning had a lot of pressure on them and needed to dominate Game 6. That’s exactly what they did. Nikita Kucherov paved the way with the first goal 15:35 into the first period. Followed by the game winning goal from Lightning captain Steven Stamkos 5 minutes into the 2nd period, his third goal of the playoffs. Stamkos hasn’t been playing at 100 percent during the playoffs, but seems to be climbing out of his slump and played his best game last night. Goaltender Ben Bishop made the big saves when they counted. An assist from a friendly post late in the 2nd kept the Canadiens off the board.
Nikita Kucherov, who along with Tyler Johnson, and Ondrej Palat, have dominated the playoffs so far, scored a pair of goals last night. Palat picked up a goal and an assist in the game, finishing this series with two goals and three assists over the final four games. Johnson who has scored 8 playoff goals thus far, leads the playoffs with the most goals scored.
The Lightning await the winner of Game 7 between the Washington Capitals and the New York Rangers tonight to identify their next opponent and to determine who bears home ice. It’s going to be an interesting next few days.
