Tampa Bay Lightning Will Face New York Rangers In Eastern Conference Finals

The Tampa Bay Lightning are officially headed to the Eastern Conference Finals, and are now set to go one-on-one with the New York Rangers.

The Tampa Bay Lightning went the distance and defeated the decisively defeated the Montreal Canadiens in Game 6 of the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and therefore have advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals.

There was just one variable that had to be decided before the Lightning could put together their battle plan. We needed to know who we were going to be up against. After their exciting overtime win last night, it was decided that the “guarantee” of Alex Ovechkin was squashed and the Tampa Bay Lightning would be facing the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

We would be lying to you if we told you that this wasn’t the outcome that we were pulling for. While in many senses the Washington Capitals may have been a much easier opponent for the Tampa Bay Lightning, there is a much more interesting storyline to be had here.

As many of you are well-aware, there are still some of us here in the Bolts Nation who are still very bitter over the way in which former Tampa Bay Lightning captain Martin St. Louis left the team and would love nothing more than to shove a Lightning victory in his face. On the flip side, there are many in New York who aren’t too happy that their former captain, Ryan Callahan, is now wearing Lightning blue.

Let’s not even mention the fact that center Brian Boyle and defenseman Anton Stralman were right behind Callahan in the journey that brought Callahan to Hockey Paradise. The Rangers are not without their fair share of former Lightning players.

In addition to St. Louis, the Blue Shirts have center Dominic Moore, who was with the Lightning during their playoff run in the 2010-11 season, and defenseman Dan Boyle, who was with the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2004 when the Bolts brought home the Stanley Cup.

While there has never really been any “bad blood” between these two teams, the aforementioned storylines will provide plenty of interesting moments over the course of the Eastern Conference Finals.

During the regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the New York Rangers in each and every encounter they faced; however, we all know by now that what happened in the regular season goes out the window when the very first puck drops in the post season.

Where these two teams are different in many ways, it is there are many similarities between these two teams. The one that we feel will have the most impact on this series is the simple fact that both of these teams have been pushed to the edge of their boundaries during the post season and both teams have been able to go the distance.

One thing that we have failed to mention thus far is the spectacular battle between the pipes we are about to experience. When the puck drops in the Conference Finals, we will get to witness the epic battle between “Big” Ben Bishop and “King” Henrik Lundqvist.

During the post season, Bishop has gone 8-5-0 with a Goals Allowed Average of 1.81 and a Save Percentage of .931. Not to be outdone, Lundqvist is 8-4-0 with a Goals Allowed Average of 1.60 and a Save Percentage of .944. As you can see, these numbers are rather similar to one another. If this series comes down to a battle of the netminders, we can assure you that this is going to be a wild and crazy ride.

This is going to be an intense series that is going to push the boundaries of what both teams are capable of, and to be completely honest with you, we wouldn’t have it any other way.

How many games do you think we will see before a victor is decided? Do you think the Tampa Bay Lightning has what it takes to make it to the finals? What will be the key to the Lightning accomplishing this goal? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning: Highest and Lowest Moments Of Round 2

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