By: Mike Rifkin
On Wednesday night the New York Rangers will host the two time defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning in Game One of the Eastern Conference Finals. It will be the second time these two teams have played in the Eastern Conference Finals, the first being in 2015 which saw the Lightning win in seven games. Now the roles are reversed as the Rangers are the young, upstart team and the Lightning are looking to win their third consecutive Cup.
During the regular season these two teams met three times and the Rangers won all three. The first meeting was on New Year’s Eve and saw the Rangers win 4-3 in a shootout with two goals from former Lightning player Barclay Goodrow. The second meeting was January second and Mika Zibanejad had a hat trick to lead the Rangers in a 4-0 win and Igor Shesterkin made 38 saves for the shutout. The third and final meeting was on March nineteenth and with 16 seconds left in the third period Zibanejad scored on a pass from Artemi Panarin on the power play to give the Rangers a 2-1 victory. Shesterkin made 28 saves on 29 shots.
In the three games against the Lightning Shesterkin went 3-0 with a 1.30 Goals Against Average and .958 save percentage and Zibanejad had four goals to lead the Rangers. For the Lightning Andrei Vasilevskiy was 0-2 with a 3.03 GAA and a .875 save percentage in the three meetings. But Vasilevskiy has been incredible lately going 5-0 with a 0.80 Goals Against Average, .978 save percentage and one shutout in his last five games after a rocky start to his playoffs. Igor Shesterkin also struggled early in the playoffs but is 7-3 with a 2.09 Goals Against Average and .939 save percentage his last 10 starts.
This series might come down to which team’s trade deadline acquisitions will be better. For the Lightning Nick Paul who was acquired from the Ottawa Senators has six points in 11 games including two goals in game seven vs the Maple Leafs. Paul has stepped up in a big way defensively as well. Brandon Hagel who was acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks has a goal and three assists in 11 games brings speed, and an aggressive forecheck to the bottom six of the Lightning. For the Rangers Andrew Copp who was acquired from the Winnipeg Jets is third on the team in scoring with 12 points in 14 games has also helped on Penalty Kill and is out there in defensive situations. Frank Vatrano who was acquired from the Florida Panthers has three goals in fourteen games, but he can shoot the puck with the best of them, if he gets hot it could help the Rangers offensively.
The ultimate X factor for game one could be how the Lightning look. They haven’t played in nine days since sweeping the President’s Trophy winning and in state rival Florida Panthers. The Rangers are coming off another game seven win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday. If Tampa isn’t sharp early the Rangers need to take advantage.
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