The Tampa Bay Lightning are looking to win the Stanley Cup for the third consecutive year, this time against the Colorado Avalanche.
Steven Stamkos scored the same goal for the Lightning and his team beat New York Rangers 2-1 on Saturday to win the Eastern Conference Final in six games.
Ondrej Palat helped Stamkos with two goals. Frank Vatrano is the Rangers ’only goalcorer.
Andrei Vasilevskiy shone and stopped 20 shots. Igor Shesterkin was also solid in the loss making 29 saves.
That’s why Lightning won its 11th consecutive series.
Corey Perry became the second player in NHL history to reach three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals with three different teams. He faced the Lightning in 2020 with the Dallas Stars, then in 2021 with the Montreal Canadiens.
Marian Hossa also succeeded in this tour de force.
Although dominant in the first period, Lightning was unable to open the scoring. Stamkos was the player who came closest to scoring when his shot hit the horizontal bar.
Despite making several amazing saves, including one from close range against Nikita Kucherov, Shesterkin finally gave up with 10:43 in the second period.
The Lightning captain used Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren as the screen and his shot surprised Shesterkin on the shield side.
After Alexis Lafrenière forced the Lightning into a foul, the Rangers tied the game. In less than seven minutes, Andrew Copp won the faceoff and Vatrano immediately defeated Vasilevskiy on the glove side.
Just 21 seconds later, Stamkos – guilty of the penalty that led to Vatrano’s goal – regained the lead with Lightning. Shesterkin blocked his initial shot, but a rebound hit him before entering the net.
The Canadian Press
Source: Radio-Canada
