The Rangers managed to lose the lead, leading 2-0 in the series. A flaw in the coaching staff, or still it is pointless to fight with such an opponent as Tampa – the Blueshirts will have to think about these topics, but already on vacation.

The Lightning won their fourth consecutive victory in the East Finals, winning their sixth match of the confrontation. Neutral fans before this meeting remained hopeful that the Rangers would be able to catch on in the most important match of the season and stretch an interesting streak to seven games. After all, the Blueshirts have already had a chance to give bright comebacks during the current playoffs.

However, Tampa showed that such a number would not work with them, and won a landslide victory in the sixth match. And Russian players contributed to the third final in a row – Nikita Kucherov and Mikhail Sergachev scored assists, and keeper Andrei Vasilevsky played a perfect match.

Tampa again proves its superiority

The majority of neutral fans in this series supported the Rangers. Still, many are already tired of seeing the same faces in the Stanley Cup final. In addition, as often happens, a dominant team gathers a large number of haters for years.

Tampa have been criticized for their past two Stanley Cups being inferior. The championship seasons of the Lightning turned out to be shortened – the regular season of the 2019/20 season was interrupted due to the coronavirus, and the next year the teams played only 56 matches. And after the Lightning lost to the Rangers in the series 0-2, detractors began to say that Tampa was not enough for a full season.

Photo: © REUTERS / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

But this only provoked the reigning champion, who managed to find the strength to turn the series around. The leaders of Tampa also showed that no matter how long the distance in the regular season is, this does not affect the performance in the playoffs. Kucherov has 23 points (7 goals + 16 assists) in 17 games in the current Stanley Cup season, and keeper Vasilevsky demonstrates a high level of reliability – in the last four games against the Rangers alone, he conceded only five goals.

Tampa again in the final

The first two matches of the series went according to a convenient scenario for the Rangers – open and attacking hockey, which was not much different from the final of the West, where the goalkeepers did not have time to pull the pucks out of the gate. But then Tampa managed to impose their style on the opponent, where defense and accuracy are at the head. With such a game, the Rangers felt uncomfortable and lost three games in a row, so it is not surprising that the Lightning went into the sixth meeting with a setup that has already brought success.

And it worked again – “Tampa” worked perfectly in defense for the entire first period and immediately ran into a counterattack. The Blueshirts, on the other hand, literally perceived that the final of the East was a confrontation between goalkeepers, and left Igor Shesterkin alone. Despite this, the keeper still coped, making super saves along the way. So at the end of the starting 20-minutes, the Lightning players quickly played a 2-in-1 exit, but Shesterkin managed to move and parried the throw.

During the break, the “sinshirts” did not draw any conclusions and in the second period, instead of transferring the game to the opponent’s zone, they continued to let Tampa carry out dangerous attacks. And already at the beginning of the second 20-minutes, Stephen Stamkos made a pass to Kucherov, the Russian sent the puck into the goal with one touch, but Shesterkin managed to beat off the throw in a split.

It couldn’t go on like this for a long time, and, in the end, Tampa put the squeeze on the opponent: after the transfer of Mikhail Sergachev, the same Stamkos went through the entire middle zone without resistance, crossed the blue line and opened the scoring in the match with a long-range throw. At the same time, he didn’t even have to beat anyone, the Rangers were very passive on the defensive.

After the missed puck, the Blueshirts nevertheless joined the game and began to carry out dangerous attacks. Now Vasilevsky also had to work, and the audience saw sharp hockey from both sides. But it was not in vain that the best keepers of the league gathered in this series – the teams did not manage to excel until the middle of the final 20 minutes.

Alexis Lafrenier, through individual actions, brought Tampa two minutes of the minority. The striker forced Stamkos to foul himself, with whom he hacked to death on his fists at the end of the last game.

The Rangers managed to give intrigue and realized this majority: after winning the face-off, Frank Vatrano got the puck, who sent it into the net with a powerful one-touch shot, thereby breaking Vasilevsky’s potential “cracker”.

Photo: © REUTERS / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

But before the Rangers fans even thought that their favorites could snatch victory and take to the ice in the seventh match of the series, Stamkos again brought the Lightning forward.

After Kucherov’s transfer, Stamkos threw Shesterkin at point-blank range, the puck fell into a trap, but immediately jumped out and jumped into the target from the striker’s knee. Igor tried to challenge the goal and proved to the judges that Stamkos had hit his hands. The referees carefully watched the repetition of the moment and, not seeing anything criminal, counted the goal.

In the remaining time, the Blueshirts tried to win back, but all attacks were broken against Vasilevsky’s shields. In the end, the Rangers removed the goaltender and staged a final assault. “Tampa” and Vasilevsky survived and go to the Stanley Cup final.

Now we are waiting for the battle between the Colorado and the Lightning. Almost all hockey experts call “Evs” favorites in the fight for the “cup”. But, judging by the game “Tampa”, the third championship in a row is quite likely.