After last night’s victory against the Carolina Hurricanes, the official date is set in place for the Eastern Conference Finals. In what will be a rematch from 2015, the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning will face off. The winner will get the luxury of playing for the Stanley Cup. The series will feature some of the best goaltending and is filled with superstars in this league. During the regular season, the Rangers went 3-0 against the Lightning.
New York Rangers vs Tampa Bay Lightning Series Preview
Shesterkin vs Vasilevskiy
Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy are arguably the two best goalies in the game today. Vasilevskiy has cemented a legacy for himself, and his postseason play cements him among the greats. Shesterkin is the younger of the two but has been the backbone of the Rangers team. This is the goaltending version of Connor McDavid vs Nathan MacKinnon.
Shesterkin had a great Second Round performance. He finished with a .953 save percentage and a 1.72 goals-against average. Throughout the playoffs, he has ranked among the best in the playoffs. According to Money Puck, he has 11.4 goals saved above expected.
His counterpart has been lights out this playoff year. Overall in the playoffs, Vasilevskiy is 8-3 with a 2.22 goals against average and a .932 save percentage. In the Second Round, Vasilevskiy finished with a perfect 4-0 record and never let in more than one goal in a game. Vasilevskiy finished with a 0.75 goals against average and a .981 save percentage. The Lightning goaltender is right behind Shesterkin with 11.0 goals saved above expected.
These are the two best going head to head and will be fun to watch.
Special Teams
Between Mika Zibanejad, Nikita Kucherov, Adam Fox, Steven Stamkos, and Chris Kreider, the firepower list with the man advantage is infinite. The level of play with the man advantage or down a man will be a key in this series. A bit more open ice could do one of these teams more justice.
The New York Rangers continue to have the powerplay be the bread and butter. In the Second Round, the Rangers went 7/21 with the man advantage, which fueled them to victory in Game 7 against Carolina. Zibanejad leads the team in points with 19 and has eight points on the power play. After their Second Round matchup, the Rangers have the second-best powerplay unit with a success rate of 32.5%. The penalty kill smothered Carolina as that team went 2/16 on the power play the entire series.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have some of the best firepower in the league. The Lightning boasts the 8th best powerplay unit with a success rate of 22%, with Kucherov and Victor Hedman leading the scoring with seven points each. The penalty kill of the Lightning against the power play of the Rangers could be the factor. The Lightning has the third-best penalty kill unit with an 87.6% success rate.
Rematch From 2015
This series is a rematch from 2015. Both teams then squared off to set up a date for the Stanley Cup and will do the same this year. The Lightning emerged victorious winning the series 4-3 to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals. The Rangers will look to avenge that and not suffer the same fate.
Both teams look vastly different. Although the core pieces from each team are still in place, many new faces were not part of that series. The men between the pipes are different, and the most significant difference will be former Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh is now on the Lightning.
Both fan bases and players know the outcome of the 2015 series, and the question will be if history repeats itself or a new victor emerges.
Prediction For New York Rangers vs Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning will defeat the Rangers in six games. Even with the long rest, they had due to sweeping the Florida Panthers; they will come out flying. Andrei Vasilevskiy will outduel Igor Shesterkin and be a significant part of another trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. The quest to three-peat is on.
Prediction: Lightning defeat Rangers 4-2.
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