Lightning on Rangers' Game 7 dominance: 'Everything is in the past'
Four years ago Wednesday, Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman skated off the ice at TD Garden following a 1-0 Game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Final. They left the ice — Stamkos with an adjusted face — as the Bruins celebrated and avoided touching the Prince of Wales Trophy.
You always hear veteran athletes say that when they win a championship or are part of a team that goes deep in the postseason early in their career they think they can get back there every year. The following season begins and they quickly realize just how tough it is to win a championship.
Friday night at Madison Square Garden, the Tampa Bay Lightning will try again to close out the New York Rangers and advance to the Stanley Cup Final. Stamkos and Hedman are the only two players remaining from Guy Boucher’s 2011 squad. Following that Game 7 loss to the Bruins, Tampa didn’t win a single playoff game until Game 2 in Round 1 of this postseason.
Teams rise and fall year to year. The Lightning are currently rising among the top teams in the NHL, but they realize they can’t let this opportunity slip away.
“It's been four years, and it was my second year in the league,” said Hedman, recalling the disappointment in 2011. “Like I said before many times, you feel like you're going to come back the next year.
“But it's a tough league, and a lot of good teams. It's really tough to get this far into the playoffs. We're one of four teams left for a reason, and we know we have the skill. We know if we play at our best, we have a good chance. It just never stops surprising me how well this team has responded to -- when we have our backs against the wall. You know, we expect to play our best game of the season on Friday.”
Not only did Tampa fail to capitalize on their first opportunity to advance, they now set themselves up in a position where no team has been successful: beating Henrik Lundqvist in a Game 7 at MSG.
Lundqvist’s elimination game numbers are ridiculous.. We’ve seen them enough times this spring given the fact New York enjoys themselves a do-or-die situation in the playoffs. The Rangers have also never lost a Game 7 on home ice in franchise history (7-0).
“I guess that means they're due to lose one, right?,” kidded Alex Killorn. “But, no, I mean, they're a team that, as we've seen when their backs are against the wall, they've played well.”
As the cliches goes, anything can happen, and in a sport like hockey, where randomness is to be expected, it’s hard to get feel on what to expect Friday night. The series has seen it all from both sides, from high scoring games to defensive clinics.
With one team's season ending tonight, the only thing to expect is the unexpected; that’s the way the Lightning are approaching it, no matter what history says.
“I think it's to me and to our team,” said head coach Jon Cooper, “their 7-0 record or whatever it is, that hasn't happened against us. Everything is in the past.”
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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