The drama of the Eastern Conference Final will reach its apex when the Lightning and Penguins face-off in Game 7 live from the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh on Thursday night.
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Tampa Bay’s rousing comeback from a 3-0 deficit in Game 6, when it pulled to within a goal with more than seven minutes left in regulation, underscored what the Lightning’s lethal cocktail of speed and skill can accomplish. “We dominated through the first two periods”. If anything can be taken from Game 6, it is that the Lightning have what it takes to bring it to the Penguins, as was demonstrated in the third period.
Neither Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy nor Penguins netminder Matt Murray has played in a Game 7 in the National Hockey League.
The Lightning have three players in Anton Stralman (7-0), Brian Boyle (6-0) and Matt Carle (5-0) who have never lost a Game 7. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said he is not expecting Bishop to play in Game 7.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are headed home for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final. He also assisted on Letang’s goal in the second. The Lightning didn’t begin to match Pittsburgh’s intensity. For the Penguins to advance, he’ll have to do it again in Game 7. Ben Bishop yields 1.85 goals per game.
The reasoning behind this could be the TV ratings, which likely go down when too many fans conglomerate in one area to watch together (instead of, presumably, watching the games on their own at home). Unintentionally or otherwise, they went into a shell during the final 20 minutes of Game 6, and the Lightning almost shattered it. “You want to be out there, but it’s not that close yet, but it’s not that close yet to have to debate”.
Sullivan announced the decision to go back to Murray following Tuesday’s morning skate, with the Penguins facing elimination for the first time this postseason. “It’s going to be like the first six games, I’m going to go home and eat something and take a little naperoonsky”.
When you consider the mental toughness of this team, and ability to endure losses with great fortitude, it makes sense to give the Lightning the edge in game seven against a roster of players who got hot and finally chose to show up for the final quarter of the regular season. “I think we feel pretty comfortable about it”.
“Our team got a boost from it because we knew we had dodged a bullet there”, Sullivan said. Forget that he hasn’t been on the winning side of a post-series handshake line this deep into the playoffs since his glorious night in Detroit seven years ago, which ended with him hoisting the Penguins’ third Stanley Cup.
Rookie goaltender Matt Murray returned to the lineup after being replaced as the starter for Game 5 by Marc-Andre Fleury, but his 10th playoff victory did not come without a bit of suspense.
As for Murray, he bounced back from sitting in Game 5 to turn in a solid performance in Pittsburgh’s 5-2 victory in Game 6. The Lightning needs to shake off the disappointment of their loss on Tuesday night, but there is one thing the team really needs to hold on to and that’s their anger. He also said that the Penguins strictly are anxious about themselves and how they approach each game.
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On the season, the Lightning are averaging 2.7 goals per game and ranking 28th in power play with 15.8 percent. All told, the Lightning are 2-1 on the road in Game 7s.
