There was a lucky break, too.
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Tampa Bay took the all important 3-2 series lead in Game 5, putting the Pittsburgh Penguins up against the ropes.
“They had a certain mindset going into this tonight: ‘We’re going to leave it all out there and do everything we can to bring this back to Pittsburgh, ‘” Sullivan added.
The Pittsburgh Penguins managed to pull off the necessary victory to keep them in with a chance of winning the series.
The Penguins kept the Lightning on the perimeter in the defensive zone and insulated their goalie. Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, who has three game-winning goals in this series, is 0-3 in Game 7s in Pittsburgh.
The Lightning entered Game 6 with a 3-2 series lead and an opportunity to conclude the series with a win on home ice. Murray now improves to 10-4 in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 2.30 goals-against average and a. 924 save-percentage. As you can imagine, he was less than pleased with the outcome; especially considering the two in the Lightning’s 5-2 loss came from none other than Lightning center Brian Boyle. The Lightning are on the verge of a second straight berth in the final despite playing the entire postseason without captain Steven Stamkos and losing Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop in the first period of the conference finals when he twisted his left leg awkwardly while scrambling to get into position. They were the only team in the National Hockey League this season (46-0-0) to not lose a game they led after two periods.
Evgeni Malkin assisted on that goal, too, and was solid, outside of taking a retaliation penalty in the first period.
Tampa Bay coach John Cooper summed it pretty succinctly: “All their players pretty much played better than all our players for 40 minutes”. Given the way both have played during this series, they’re not showing any signs of being nervous, but butterflies are harder to contain when there’s a Stanley Cup berth on the line. Phil Kessel has been a star for the Penguins with six goals in seven games.
Tampa Bay is 57-35-6 overall, 26-19-3 on the road and 44-41 with the under.
F Bryan Rust got a breakaway goal with 2:08 left to seal the Penguins win in Tampa Bay on Tuesday. Let us know by commenting below!
“You know it’s going to be a big surge”, Sidney Crosby said.
“I think everybody has to step it up”, Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman said.
“I think we’re all excited”, Dumoulin said.
“Everyone contributed in their own way”. “Guys have done a great job of getting us a chance to be one game away from the Stanley Cup finals”. “What I like about our team is that the bigger the test, the bigger the response we have”.
Home ice has not been friendly in this situation to the Penguins, who have gone 2-7 in Game 7s in Pittsburgh. Credit Penguins video coach Andy Saucier with an assist on that one after he alerted the bench to the offsides play.
“He has a maturity beyond his years”, Sullivan said on Wednesday. “It certainly was a big part of the game”.
Matt Murray was back in the Pittsburgh net for Game 6 after Marc-Andre Fleury’s subpar performance in a Game 5 loss. Fleury wasn’t bad in Game 5, but it was obvious he wasn’t up to game speed. There is also the fact that the Lightning are 5-1 all-time in game 7’s. He also set career bests with five goals, 13 assists and 18 points.
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Few are paying attention and it may not be water-cooler conversation, but the Stanley Cup Playoffs are the most compelling entrée on the sporting menu right now.
