The New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning face-off in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final Tuesday night in what will be the continuation of a back-and-forth series.
The Lightning is hoping to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since winning it all in 2004 while the Rangers look to force a Game 7 for the second time in as many series.'
New York jumped out to a 1-0 series lead at home before Tampa Bay won two straight to take a 2-1 edge. After the Rangers nodded things up on the road to make it 2-2, the Lightning blanked them 2-0 at Madison Square Garden to take a 3-2 series lead.
With the puck set to drop at Amalie Arena on Tuesday, here are three things to watch for:
1) The Triplets vs. The Defense: The line of Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat had been igniting the Lightning throughout the playoffs by scoring 25 of Tampa Bay's 47 goals through the first 16 games, but they've cooled off since Game 3. New York's defense has done a good job in limiting them the last two games and will have to continue to do the same if it hopes to force a Game 7. This line, meanwhile, will look to breakout of its slump in order to help propel the Lightning to the Stanley Cup Final. Rangers top defensemen Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi and Marc Staal will hope to shut them down.
2) Superstar Spotlight: Steven Stamkos scored a key power play goal in Game 5 for the Lightning and after a slow start to the playoffs, he has shown why he is one of the most prolific scorers in the NHL. Stamkos has seven goals and 17 points this spring and between him and the Triplets, Tampa Bay has plenty of fire power. For the Rangers, it looked as though Rick Nash and Martin St. Louis broke out in Game 4 when Nash scored twice and St. Louis found the twine for the first time in these playoffs, but they were silent with the rest of New York's offense in Game 5. The Rangers will hope their superstars step up while the Lightning's top guys hope to continue to soar.
3) Lundqvist vs. Bishop: The crease battle between New York's Henrik Lundqvist and Tampa Bay's Ben Bishop has been a huge part of this series. After the Rangers broke out to a 1-0 series lead, Lundqvist allowed six goals in back-to-back games for the first time in his postseason career as the Blueshirts went down 2-1 in the series and questions of whether Lundqvist would remain in the blue paint began to form. Bishop gave up five tallies in Game 3 and then again in a Game 4 loss, which led to questions surrounding him lasting in between the pipes for the Lightning. Bishop then blanked the Rangers in Game 5 while Lundqvist allowed two goals on 22 shots. Bishop is 11-7 with a 2.08 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage this postseason while Lundqvist is 10-7 with a 2.06 GAA and a .929 save percentage.
The Rangers look to force Game 7 while the Lightning hopes to advance to the Stanley Cup Final when the lights come up at the Amalie Arena Tuesday night in Tampa Bay.
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