The New York Rangers are back in the Eastern Conference Finals for the second straight season. They'll face a team which battled a lot of adversity to reach this level for the second straight year too, as the Tampa Bay Lightning have reached this juncture for just the third time in their history.
SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: Tampa Bay @ New York (5/16, 1:00 p.m. ET, NBC)
Game 2: Tampa Bay @ New York (5/18, 8:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN)
Game 3: New York @ Tampa Bay (5/20, 8:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN)
Game 4: New York @ Tampa Bay (5/22, 8:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN)
Game 5: Tampa Bay @ New York (5/24, 8:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN, If Necessary)
Game 6: New York @ Tampa Bay (5/26, 8:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN, If Necessary)
Game 7: Tampa Bay @ New York (5/29, 8:00 p.m. ET, NBCSN, If Necessary)
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Lightning might be short on experience in the playoffs, but they are big on talent, and that's why the oddsmakers are giving them a really good chance to win this series. Home ice advantage is the only reason why New York is the favorite in this series though, as that -150 margin insinuates that these two teams are on perfectly level terms.
KEY PLAYERS
How could we do anything but highlight the two men who used to be captains for their former teams in this series?
The Lightning may or may not have Ryan Callahan for the start of this series after he went through an emergency appendectomy earlier in the week. Still, the former New York 'C' hasn't scored a goal here in the playoffs and has just three assists. He'll need to do more in this one to get the Lightning to advance.
Meanwhile, the man who was traded for Callahan, Martin St. Louis has been iffy in his new uniform as well. He too hasn't scored a goal in the postseason this year, but he has played a lot better than four assists in 12 games suggests.
KEY STATS
7: The number of power play goals the Lightning scored in the last five games of the series against the Canadiens. In fact, they scored on seven of their final 12 power play chances of that series against the Habs, including putting one in the back of the net in Game 6 to effectively win that series.
23.3: The number of shots on goal per game the Rangers averaged this year against the Lightning. They were held under 20 shots on two different occasions, which could be something to note against a Tampa Bay team which has already posted two games this postseason with fewer than 20 shots on goal allowed as well.
ANALYSIS & PREDICTION
The last time the Lightning got to the Eastern Conference Finals five years ago, they just weren't quite tough enough to outlast the Bruins, and we think they’re going to run into the same type of problems this time around.
New York just has this knack for winning close games and close series, and we think that both will come into play in this one. Go with the Blueshirts in seven very tough fought games in a series which could easily go the other way with just a couple moments of brilliance.
New York Rangers in 7 games
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