With shutout of Rangers, Lightning advance to Stanley Cup Finals
With shutout of Rangers, Lightning advance to Stanley Cup Finals
Bishop, pulled from a Game 6 loss after allowing five goals, did much of the rest, and Ondrej Palat iced it with 8:43 to go.
The Lightning, who claimed the Cup in 2004 with a Game 7 win over Calgary, allowed only four goals in as many games at the Garden.
New York had the NHL’s best record this season, but Bishop neither bent nor broke on this night, extending his shutout string at the Garden to 145 minutes, 43 seconds.
Hen-rik! as both teams lined up to shake hands, and Lundqvist looked stunned as he took part in the post-series tradition.
[...] you need a good team but you also need a process.
Killorn’s seventh goal of the postseason came 1:54 into the third on a backhander from the slot with traffic in front of Lundqvist, who didn’t appear to see the puck skitter in to the crease, then under him into the net.
On one sequence, with the lead still one goal, four Rangers were in front trying to locate a loose puck, but Bishop didn’t yield.
Palat finished it with his seventh goal of the playoffs, a wrist shot over Lundqvist’s glove off a nice feed from Tyler Johnson.
The Lightning then collected the Prince of Wales Trophy for winning the East, and set their sights on the bigger hardware: the Stanley Cup.
Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault said after the loss that captain Ryan McDonagh played with a broken foot.
After splitting six physical games, the Ducks and Blackhawks will meet in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals in Anaheim on Saturday.
The Blackhawks avoided elimination with a Game 6 home victory Wednesday.