NHL Eastern Conference Final: Pittsburgh Penguins vs Tampa Bay Lightning
NHL Eastern Conference Final Preview: Matt Murray and the Pittsburgh Penguins Face-Off Against Ben Bishop and the Tampa Bay Lightning
And then there were two. Eight teams in the NHL Eastern Conference started their journey in April for a chance at hoisting Lord Stanley and now in May only two teams remain.
Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning will make an appearance in the NHL Eastern Conference Final after defeating the New York Islanders in five games. The reigning Eastern Conference champs have an opportunity to defend their title and make it into the Stanley Cup Final for a second year in a row.
Only one team stands in their way, the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins defeated the Washington Capitals in a game six overtime thriller.
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On paper the Capitals were the better team as they won the Presidents’ Trophy during the regular season. The team who went all in for the cup ultimately fell short in the best of seven series with Mike Sullivan‘s Penguins squad.
This is a Penguins team who made it this far into the post season without their star players in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin carrying the team to this point, which proves how deep the Penguins roster truly is.
The 2016 NHL Eastern Conference final features two teams who have only met in the playoffs one time.
Flashback to five years ago, the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Pittsburgh was without Malkin and Crosby due to injury but held a 3-1 lead over the Lightning. Long story short the Lightning went on to win the following three games and won the series.
There are no hard feelings between the two teams so to say that this match-up is a rivalry would be anything but the truth. This series will be a best of seven between the two teams that are playing the best hockey in the Eastern Conference right now.
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Each team played tough hockey to get to this point. The Penguins ousted the Rangers in the first round, then went on to beat the Cup favorited Caps team. Tampa beat the Red Wings in the first round then defeated the NY Islanders.
The Penguins have home ice advantage in this series, which does not intimidate the Lightning as they won all three meetings with the Penguins in the regular season. However, the Lightning should be intimidated at the depth of the Penguins roster.
The Pens line of Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel combined for 18 points (7 goals, 11 assists) in the Caps series. Crosby and Malkin combined only had one goal and three assists. The Penguins proved in the second round that they are more than just the Sid and Geno show.
However, goaltending could potentially be an issue for the Penguins in the Conference final. When Fleury was diagnosed with his second concussion of the season back in March, the Pens turned to 21-year-old rookie Matt Murray.
In this year’s playoffs alone Murray has outplayed Henrik Lundqvist and Brayden Holtby. Two goalies who have either won or been nominated for the Vezina trophy. If he can outplay Tampa’s Ben Bishop, that’s quite the trifecta he has accomplished.
Murray has been outstanding between the pipes so far as he’s been 7-2 with a .935 save percentage.
Head coach Mike Sullivan has quite a situation on his hands if Fleury is healthy and ready to play come Friday for game 1 of the series. Will he pull Murray in favor of Fleury?
May 8, 2016; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Ben Bishop (30) looks on against the New York Islanders during the second period in game five of the second round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Tampa Bay has found their groove and is playing the type of hockey that will ensure them a ticket to the Stanley Cup Final. They needed their clutch players to come alive in the series against the Islanders and those guys did just that.
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Tampa’s clutch player is otherwise known as Nikita Kucherov. The right-winger has a league high nine goals in 10 games. In last year’s playoffs he had 10 goals in 26 playoff games which was second on the team. If he continues to play like he has he could very well surpass his numbers last season.
Not only do the Bolts need their offense to continue to produce but the blue line needs to step up as well. That all starts with Victor Hedman. Tampa is stacked with experienced defenseman from Braydon Coburn, Jason Garrison, Matt Carle and Andrej Sustr.
Both of these teams are familiar with what it takes to make it to the cup finals. Pittsburgh made back to back appearances in the Cup final in 2008 and 2009, defeating the Red Wings and winning it all in 2009.
Tampa Bay’s run last year in the Eastern Conference (you could say was luck but they also played some amazing hockey to get there), fell short to a veteran team in the Chicago Blackhawks who proved their experience in the finals, and won the Stanley Cup in six hard-fought games.
This isn’t anything new for the Lightning as this is a team who is expected to go out on the ice and win. 20 of the 25 players on the Lightning roster were on this team last year, in this same position. With the possibility of their Captain Steven Stamkos making an appearance in the Conference Final for the first time since his surgery back in March, and defenseman Anton Stralman with the potential to return as well – these two players could have a significant impact on the outcome of this series.
The Penguins and the Lightning each have their fair share of depth on both offense and defense and their goaltenders have been nothing short of outstanding. Tampa will not be able to steamroll offensively over Pittsburgh as they did with the Islanders. This will be a tough series for both teams as each has flaws.
Tampa will need their triplet’s line to produce as they did this time last year, as well as Jonathan Drouin, Alex Killorn and Victor Hedman to stay hot in order to win this series.
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If Mike Sullivan chooses to keep Matt Murray in net over Marc Andre Fleury he should be praying to the hockey gods every night that this kid keeps up his stellar play. Tampa is loaded offensively and Murray will have a lot of shots coming his way this series, if he cracks then it’s safe to say this series is over.
This match-up will prove to be entertaining and a challenge for both teams. However I believe that Tampa had a taste of the Finals last year and they will repeat as Eastern Conference Champions. Tampa in 6.