With Murray back between the pipes on his final day as a 21-year-old after sitting out Game 5 in favour of Marc-Andre Fleury, goals by Kessel, Letang and Crosby lifted the Penguins to a 3-0 lead en route to a 5-2 victory in Game 6, setting up a one-game showdown to represent the East in the Stanley Cup Final.
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Following a sloppy overtime loss, the Penguins are entering Game 6 with a lot of confidence – Evgeni Malkin has all but guaranteed a Pittsburgh win (he’s also guaranteed he’ll score in Game 6).
San Jose will meet the victor of tonight’s game, the Sharks will be playing in the franchises’ first Stanley Cup Finals as they outlasted the St. Louis Blues in six games. Tyler Johnson drilled in the winning OT goal. Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said he is not expecting Bishop to play in Game 7. Game 6 in Tuesday night at Amalie Arena.
The Penguins have won 11 straight games in which Sidney Crosby has scored.
On Tuesday, they did just that. He is proving that previous year wasn’t a fluke.
You look at it just as an opportunity. With largely the same roster that reached the Stanley Cup Final last season, the Lightning had to play in a Game 7 twice a year ago.
“He keeps climbing the ladder, and he keeps getting better. You can’t say enough about him”. “He’s won a lot of big games for us”. History suggests this team is very good at Game 7s.
Before I go any further, if you happen to be a Pittsburgh Penguins fan and take my media remark as an attack on the Penguin franchise, please accept my apologies.
The Lightning had an apparent goal by Jonathan Drouin waived off a little more than five minutes into the game, when Sullivan successfully challenged that the young Tampa Bay winger was offside on the play before tapping in a rebound off Ondrej Palat’s shot that bounced off Murray’s pads.
The difference between this game and all the others that Stamkos has missed is that the Lightning, with a loss, will have played their final game of the season.
“He doesn’t get rattled”, coach Mike Sullivan said.
The Penguins are 2-7 at home in Game 7s, having lost four in a row in that position since their last win, in the 1995 conference quarterfinals against the Washington Capitals. Tampa Bay then took control of the series with wins in Games 4 (4-3) and 5 (4-3, overtime), before Pittsburgh etched out a 5-2 road win in Game 6 to force the do-or-die situation.
Sullivan said he was switching back to Murray because “just like we make all our lineup decisions, we try to put players on the ice that we think give us the best chance to win”.
“I believe in my team”.
“We just want to have the game come”.
“I feel good, but we’re not done yet”, said Hornqvist.
With a trip to the Stanley Cup Final against the Western Conference champion Sharks hanging in the balance, the intensity level will be high Thursday night.
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“We’re down to the final four and headed to Game 7”. He’s not going to light up the scoresheet – seven points in 17 games – but he plays excellent defense against opponents’ top forwards, logs over 20 minutes per game and starts breakouts with quick, accurate passes out of the defensive zone.
