“There’s no two better words than that”. With the Lightning potentially able to clench the series at home and head to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second year in a row, this was exactly how they wanted to start the game.
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On the other side, Matt Cullen has gone 4-0 in a Game 7, while Carl Hagelin, who was a part of those Rangers teams with Stralman and Boyle, is 6-1. By the end of 40 minutes, they had outshot Tampa Bay 26-11 and held a 3-0 lead on goals by Phil Kessel, Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby. We know it’s going to be a close game.
When push came to shove, Marc-Andre Fleury could not come up with a stop.
The Penguins were tensing up. The Lightning attempted a third-period comeback behind two Brian Boyle goals, however their efforts were swept aside as the Pens scored twice in the closing minutes for a 5-2 victory. In fact, the last three times the Penguins played game sevens it didn’t have the ending they were looking for and they all took place in Pittsburgh.
The narrative is that Sidney Crosby hasn’t done enough in the Playoffs this spring. “You want to contribute”.
Pittsburgh’s season was hanging by a finger nail. Crosby insists Game 7 will be about the team, not him.
Murray didn’t blink. He shuttered the Lightning as a buzzing 19,092 reached a crescendo. Braydon Coburn and Ryan Callahan are each 5-1 in Game 7s. He was given the vote of confidence by coach Mike Sullivan and responded in a manner uncanny for a 21-year-old.
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“It’s his turn”, coach Ken Hitchcock said Tuesday. “That’s usually an attribute that takes usually years to acquire that, and to have it at such a young age is impressive”. If one goes in that he thinks he should have had, he just refocuses and he plays. The Lightning are trying to do the same for the second straight year and to win it for the first time since 2004 after falling to the Blackhawks in six games last year.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay will be trying to pull off a rare feat by making it to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals.
The Penguins are confident they can rebound Tuesday.
Sullivan was left with a split-second decision.
No one’s sure if he’ll play again in the postseason, or how that call will be made. There is no science to it. The Penguins captain is now 6-9-15 through 17 playoff games.
Evgeni Malkin has scored four goals and nine assists, but he has not hit his stride.
Drouin was offside by a hair.
“We got another game to win tonight”.
What if the Penguins’ stars didn’t come to play?
Kessel scored the first one. It’s one game and you’ve got to find a way to win it. Try to enjoy it as much as you can, but also understand that it’s a great opportunity and try to leave it all out there.
“You can’t sit here and dictate or guarantee what the result’s going to be, but our mindset going into the game has got to be a heck of a lot different, ” Cooper said. “He’s won a lot of big games for us”.
A bigger opportunity awaits, a chance to write a new history book.
So let’s agree that whatever transpires in Game 7 at Consol Energy Center won’t have anything to do with momentum.
Bishop, out since getting hurt in Game 1, was one of the last Lightning players on the ice at today’s optional skate.
What if we blew our best shot?
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“He’s been giving us a chance to win every time he’s been in”, said Stralman.
