Rangers-Lightning Preview: Key Players, Prediction For Eastern Conference Final

The New York Rangers have an opportunity to reach the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1933.

Standing in their way is the Tampa Bay Lightning, a threat to win the East now and for many years to come.

This should be a long series because both teams have tremendous depth up front, a lot of experience and skill on the blue line and goaltenders playing some of their best hockey of the season. The Rangers have the home ice advantage, but the Lightning are 4-2 on the road in this postseason.

Here’s a preview of the 2015 Eastern Conference final.

How They Got Here

Round 1: New York defeated Pittsburgh in five games. Tampa Bay beat Detroit in seven games.

Round 2: New York eliminated Washington in seven games. Tampa Bay defeated Montreal in six games.

Leading Scorers: Tyler Johnson (Lightning, 12 points), Derick Brassard and Derek Stepan (Rangers, eight points).

Important Matchup: The Rangers need to shut down the best second line in hockey to win this series. Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondre Palat, also referred to as The Triplets, have combined for 31 points in the playoffs (most of any one line). They totaled five points (three goals, two assists) in Tampa Bay’s second-round clinching Game 6 win over the Canadiens.

New York should, and probably will, counter with the Marc Staal-Dan Girardi pairing against this highly skilled and speedy Lightning line.

Key Player For Rangers: Rick Nash has tallied seven points in 12 games for the Rangers and is playing very well on the penalty kill. That said, he’s being paid nearly $8 million to score goals and he has just two in these playoffs despite taking 45 shots and averaging 18:35 of ice time per game. The Lightning are capable of exploding offensively with their extraordinary scoring depth, and with injured Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello’s status for this series uncertain, Nash must provide more goals than he did in Round 2 (one).

Key Player For Lightning: Johnson is one of the leading candidates for the Conn Smythe Trophy and leads the Lightning with 12 points. Goals won’t be easy to come by for Tampa Bay because the Rangers are giving up a playoff-low 1.67 goals per game, primarily because of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist’s brilliant play.

As the center and primary playmaker on Tampa Bay’s most productive line alongside Kucherov and Palat, Johnson must consistently create quality chances for himself and his linemates for the Lightning to score enough goals. He has scored just one goal in the last five games after tallying seven in the first eight games of Tampa Bay’s playoff run.

Goaltending Preview: Lundqvist added his sixth career Game 7 win to his playoff resume Wednesday night against the Washington Capitals, tying him with Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy for the most ever among goaltenders. He made 35 saves on 36 shots to increase his save percentage to .946 for the series. Lundqvist leads all remaining goaltenders with a .944 save percentage and a 1.60 goals against average.

Ben Bishop was Tampa Bay’s best player in its Game 6 win over the Montreal Canadiens in Round 2. After a subpar performance in Round 1 against the Detroit Red Wings, the Lightning netminder rebounded well against the Habs with a .940 save percentage over the six games. He also gave up two goals or fewer in five of those six matchups.

Bishop has very little room for error against the Rangers because Lundqvist isn’t likely to have any bad games — he’s given up more than two goals in just two of his 12 starts this postseason.

Prediction: Rangers win in six games