In the second game 7 of his career, Ben Bishop recorded his second game-7 shutout behind 22 saves in a 2-0 win for the Tampa Bay Lightning over the New York Rangers on Friday night. The Lightning take the Eastern Conference Finals series 4-3, and advance to their second Stanley Cup Finals in franchise history, and first since 2004.
The win for Tampa Bay also hands the Rangers their first loss in game 7 at Madison Square Garden. Alex Killorn got the scoring started when he ricocheted a shot past Henrik Lundqvist for his seventh goal of the playoffs at 1:54 of the third period. Tampa Bay improved to 9-0 in this postseason when scoring first.
Ondrej Palat added an insurance goal with 8:43 to go in the game and the series, as Bishop avenged a horrible outing in game 6, a game in which he was pulled. Tampa Bay ended the series allowing four goals in four games in New York.
The Lightning won a game 7 in the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, defeating the Calgary Flames 11 years ago.
The Rangers held the NHL's best record in the regular season, and had gone 15-3 in their last 18 elimination games. They're last defeat in a elimination game was in last year's Stanley Cup Finals, falling to the Los Angeles Kings in overtime of game 5.
Bishop shutout the Detroit Red Wings in game 7 of the first round in this year's postseason, his first career game 7. He didn't have any highlight saves on Friday, but was good enough to keep the Rangers off the scoreboard and extend his MSG shutout streak to 145 minutes, 43 seconds.
Many believe that Lundqvist was the better goalie on Friday night, as the Lightning had many more scoring opportunities than the Rangers. New York's goalie has won six game 7's in his career, the most by any goalie.
Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said after the game that captain Ryan McDonagh played with a broken foot. He sat out the first 12:41 of the first period, but played a regular shift the rest of the way.
The Lightning will take on the winner of the Chicago Blackhawks-Anaheim Ducks series, which will play game 7 in Anaheim tonight. The Stanley Cup Finals begin on Wednesday night.
The win for Tampa Bay also hands the Rangers their first loss in game 7 at Madison Square Garden. Alex Killorn got the scoring started when he ricocheted a shot past Henrik Lundqvist for his seventh goal of the playoffs at 1:54 of the third period. Tampa Bay improved to 9-0 in this postseason when scoring first.
Ondrej Palat added an insurance goal with 8:43 to go in the game and the series, as Bishop avenged a horrible outing in game 6, a game in which he was pulled. Tampa Bay ended the series allowing four goals in four games in New York.
The Lightning won a game 7 in the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, defeating the Calgary Flames 11 years ago.
The Rangers held the NHL's best record in the regular season, and had gone 15-3 in their last 18 elimination games. They're last defeat in a elimination game was in last year's Stanley Cup Finals, falling to the Los Angeles Kings in overtime of game 5.
Bishop shutout the Detroit Red Wings in game 7 of the first round in this year's postseason, his first career game 7. He didn't have any highlight saves on Friday, but was good enough to keep the Rangers off the scoreboard and extend his MSG shutout streak to 145 minutes, 43 seconds.
Many believe that Lundqvist was the better goalie on Friday night, as the Lightning had many more scoring opportunities than the Rangers. New York's goalie has won six game 7's in his career, the most by any goalie.
Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said after the game that captain Ryan McDonagh played with a broken foot. He sat out the first 12:41 of the first period, but played a regular shift the rest of the way.
The Lightning will take on the winner of the Chicago Blackhawks-Anaheim Ducks series, which will play game 7 in Anaheim tonight. The Stanley Cup Finals begin on Wednesday night.
