There are two teams left standing in the Eastern Conference as the Stanley Cup playoffs have dwindled down to four clubs overall and the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning are set to face-off in the Eastern Conference Final.
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The Rangers and Lightning will vie for a chance to meet the winner of the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks series in the Stanley Cup Final. New York overcame the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals to get here while Tampa Bay outlasted the Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens.
Before the puck drops on Game 1 of this set live from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET, here are our predictions for the best-of-seven series:
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[Metropolitan Division 1] New York Rangers vs. [Atlantic Division 2] Tampa Bay Lightning
Round 2 Reflection: After they knocked off the Penguins in five games in the opening round, Sports World News picked the Presidents' Trophy-winning Rangers to topple the Capitals in six games and the Lightning to defeat the Canadiens in seven. As it happens, those finals were flip-flopped with New York winning in seven and Tampa Bay emerging victorious in six. Montreal was the final Canadian team in the playoffs and remains the last team to hoist the greatest trophy in sports from the Great White North when they did so in 1993.
Season Series: The Lightning knocked off the Rangers in all three meetings these teams had in the regular season, outscoring them 15-7 -- including 11-4 in two games at MSG. These teams haven't played in 2015, with their final meeting occurring on Dec. 1, 2014.
Cup Dreams: The Rangers are in the Eastern Conference Final for the second straight campaign and third time in the last four years. New York is looking to get to the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year and to win it all for the first time since 1994. Tampa Bay, meanwhile, is in the conference final for the first time since 2011 and will look to advance to the Cup final for the first time since 2004, the last time they won it all. It's the third time in franchise history the Lightning is in the conference final.
Series Overview: There is no shortage of storylines and familiar faces in this one. Martin St. Louis was the face of the Lightning's franchise for 13 years before being traded to the Rangers last spring for their former captain Ryan Callahan, who underwent an emergency appendectomy, but could play in this series.
Elsewhere, Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman and center Brian Boyle went to the Stanley Cup Final with the Blueshirts a year ago while Rangers defenseman Dan Boyle, who is day-to-day with a head injury, hoisted the Cup in a Lightning jersey alongside St. Louis in 2004 and Dominic Moore was with Tampa Bay in its last trip to the Eastern Conference Final in 2011.
Both teams took dramatic routes to get here as the Rangers fell behind 3-1 to the Capitals in Round 2 and ended up becoming the only team in NHL history to win a series when trailing 3-1 in back-to-back seasons after doing it against the Penguins a year ago.
It took an overtime goal by Derick Stepan in Game 7 for New York to advance, but it improved to 7-0 all-time at MSG in Game 7s and won its sixth straight do-or-die game.
The Rangers will now look to become the first club since the Penguins (2008, 2009) to win the Prince of Whales Trophy two straight years.
The Lightning meanwhile, fell behind 3-2 to Detroit in Round 1 and rallied back to win the series before opening up a 3-0 lead on the Canadiens, dropping two straight games, and then finishing Montreal off in six.
New York's offense has struggled as it has averaged two goals per game in the postseason and every single game has been decided by one goal in these playoffs, an NHL record that stretches to 14 consecutive playoff games dating back to last year's Stanley Cup Final.
Rick Nash (two goals), who is second on the team with seven points, will look to find his goal-scoring touch as will St. Louis (no tallies, four helpers). St. Louis found himself riding the bench late in Game 7, but perhaps meeting his old team will spark him. Nash had a goal and three points against the Lightning in the regular season while St. Louis had two tallies.
The line of Stepan, Chris Kreider and Jesper Fast paid dividends against the Capitals. Kreider, who saved the Rangers from elimination with a goal with just over a minute left in Game 5, is tied with difference-maker Derick Brassard for the team lead with five markers while Stepan and Kreider each have a club-best eight points.
Mats Zuccarello (suspected concussion) is out for Game 1, but coach Alain Vigneault expressed optimism that he could return by series end.
Tampa Bay's strength is its offense as it has ranked fourth in the league with 2.65 goals per game this postseason and boasts not only superstar Steven Stamkos, but a dominant young line of Ondrej Palat, 24, Tyler Johnson, 24 and Nikita Kucherov, 21.
These three have combined for 17 goals and 31 points through 13 playoff games while Johnson paces the NHL with eight postseason tallies and is knotted for second in the league with an Eastern Conference-best 12 points. Kucherov had six markers against Montreal.
Stamkos ended a goal-scoring drought earlier this postseason and has gotten hot at the right time with a five-game point streak and he has three tallies and 10 points in these playoffs. Stamkos had two goals and seven points against New York this season.
While the Lightning are surging on offense, the Rangers defense is one of its strong suits. Captain Ryan McDonagh, who has two game-winning goals including in overtime of Game 5 to keep the season alive, has averaged a team-best 24:46 time on ice while his shutdown partner Dan Girardi has had a club-high 48 blocked shots.
Marc Staal is also a difference-maker on the blue line while Keith Yandle has started to show signs of adapting to his new team and is a great puck-mover and Kevin Klein provides a physical edge. It remains to be seen if Boyle will return from his head injury.
The Bolts' blue line is anchored by a solid Swedish tandem in Stralman and Victor Hedman. Hedman (22:55) and Stralman (22:22) lead the Lightning in average time on ice and each have a goal in these playoffs while ranking plus-seven and plus-four, respectively.
The second pairing of Braydon Coburn and Jason Garrison adds a physical presence to the defense.
In the blue paint, New York turns to Henrik Lundqvist, who once again put his team on his back last series by yielding just five goals on 110 shots in Games 5, 6 and 7 against Washington with his team on the brink of elimination.
Lundqvist has shown no signs of rust after being sideline by a vascular injury earlier this season and is 8-4 with a 1.64 goals-against average and a .944 save percentage this postseason. Lundqvist allowed 14 goals on 79 shots against the Lightning in three games this season.
Tampa Bay counters with 6-foot-7 Ben Bishop in between the pipes and he has been a Rangers killer in the past. Bishop is 8-0-0 all-time against the Rangers and is coming off of shutting out the Red Wings in Game 7 of Round 1 and then outdueling Vezina and Hart Trophy finalist Carey Price in Round 2.
Bishop, in his postseason debut, is 8-5 with a 1.81 GAA and a .931 save percentage this spring and allowed seven goals on 70 shots against the Rangers this season.
The Rangers have been a rejuvenated team in the last two seasons under former Jack Adams winner Alain Vigneault, who is up for the award for the fourth time in his career. This marks the third time he has reached the Eastern Conference Final and second straight time in as many years as the Rangers' bench boss.
Coach Jon Cooper has guided the Lightning to the playoffs for the second straight season and is in just his second full NHL campaign. He is 101-59 since taking over in March 2013 and is 8-9 in the postseason.
Special Teams: The Lightning's power play is converting at an 18% clip while the Rangers annual headache has found the twine at a 15.8% margin. New York's penalty kill is successful at an 89.3% rate while Tampa Bay's is 86.7%.
Final Thoughts: This will be a tremendous season with storylines galore due to all the familiar faces on each team. Both of these teams are fast, but they have different strengths as the Rangers' defense is among the best in the NHL while the Lightning's offense is one of the most intimidating units in the sport. The most interesting battle may be in the crease as Tampa Bay will look to defeat a playoff experienced Lundqvist while New York will try to solve Bishop. The Lightning had the Rangers number in the regular season, but it's been five and a half months since these teams have met and everything changes come the postseason. Anything can happen and this once could go either way, but it's likely to go the distance and the Rangers could be riding a wave of success after a dramatic comeback.
The Pick: Rangers in 7.
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