It’s June 1st and it’s Rangers game day! No two statements have ever felt as good as those. The New York Rangers will host the Tampa Bay Lightning for game one of the Eastern Conference final, moving right along after their decisive game seven win against Carolina Monday Night, In stark contrast to the Rangers, the Lightning haven’t played a game in almost two weeks as they swept the Florida Panthers, wrapping up their second round series faster than anyone. There are pros and cons to both scenarios. In the Rangers situation, they’ll have the advantage of being in more of a game ready rhythm, whereas the Lightning are very well rested and have had ample time to practice and prepare for round three. Which will be the bigger key factor? I’m sure by the end of tonight, we’ll have an answer.
While the Bolts sent the Panthers packing with ease, they had a bit more trouble in round one as they went to seven games with the Toronto Maple Leafs. They went down in the series early, dropping game one by a score of 5-0. They went down in the series 2-1 and eventually fought off elimination in games six and seven. Throughout the postseason, the Bolts have relied on the strong goaltending of Vasilevskiy but offensively, it hasn’t been their usual suspects. Ross Colton and veteran winger Corey Perry lead the team with five goals a piece with Nikita Kucherov, Ondrej Palat and Steven Stamkos right behind them at four. The Lightning have been without arguably their most important player in Brayden Point since game seven with the Leafs. Point, who is listed with a lower body injury, is unlikely to play at the start of the conference finals and could be dealing with a more serious injury.
The Rangers took on the Tampa Bay Lightning three times this past regular season and have come out on top in all three. Certainly something for the Rangers to feel good about however, as we all know, the playoffs are a different animal and going up against the defending back to back Stanley Cup Champions is no easy task. There are lots of story lines revolving around this series, the biggest one being the excitement regarding the goaltender match up of Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy. Vasilevskiy has without a doubt been the best goalie in the league in recent history, until of course Igor Shesterkin had the groundbreaking season he just had this year. Which of the league's top tenders will prevail this season? The seasoned, reigning Vezina trophy winner who has two rings on his finger or the younger, current Vezina favorite looking to follow and exceed the steps his fellow countryman took in his early NHL career.
Overall, the matchups surrounding this series are ones hockey fans are surely eager to watch. You have Artemi Panarin vs. Nikita Kucherov, arguably two of the best wingers in the league. Norris Trophy winners Adam Fox and Victor Hedman going against each other. You have Barclay Goodrow, who was a member of both of Tampa’s Cup winning teams now going against his former team with this young Rangers group. The list can go on and on. The last time the Rangers made it to the Eastern Conference Final was in 2015 where they took on.. The Tampa Bay Lightning. In their first season after losing in the Stanley Cup final, they were one win away from getting right back there, but fell short to the Lightning in game seven.
With that in mind, the Rangers look to rewrite history as they will be led by one of their leaders, lone remaining player from that 2015 team, Chris Kreider. If there’s anyone you can count on to teach the younger guys about what these moments mean it's Kreider. On the flip side, the
In addition to Brayden Point, Brandon Hagel and Mikhail Sergachev have been battling injuries as of late for the Lightning. Sergachev is probably the more likely of the two to play tonight as Hagel is still a question mark. On the Rangers end, this is the healthiest lineup they’ve had all season and could be even closer to a Sammy Blais return. While we’re not quite there yet, we can expect to see the same lineup that got us here from game seven:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Vatrano
Panarin - Strome - Copp
Lafreniere - Chytil - Kakko
Motte - Goodrow - Reaves
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Braun - Schneider
The Rangers have to get on the Lightning early and their biggest key factor will be getting traffic in front of the net. The Rangers should know what they have to do to score against a goalie of Vasilevskiy’s caliber considering they shoot on Shesterkin in practice everyday. Traffic to the net, bodies and sticks in lanes, shoot for rebounds, don’t make it easy for him. The Rangers have had moments where they struggle to generate offense and that is something they are going to have to leave behind if they want to compete with Tampa. As long as they keep playing the way they have, they will be more than capable to give the Bolts a run for their money. Keep the momentum going, NO QUIT IN NY. LETS GO RANGERS.
Chris Feldman
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