The Pittsburgh Penguins will host the Tampa Bay Lightning as
the two teams are set to faceoff in the Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Finals
on Friday May 13.
The Penguins who have been the hottest team since
mid-December, right around the time they made a coaching change to try and
right the ship. In the first round the Penguins got past the New York Rangers
in five games, then marched past the President Trophy winning, Washington Capitals
in a six.
The Pens entered the postseason wondering about their
goaltending as third string goalie, Jeff Zatkoff opened the playoffs, due to
starter Marc-Andre Fleury coming off symptoms of a concussion. Zatkoff became the
first Penguin netminder to get a win in his playoff debut, since Frank Pietrangelo
was able to win his postseason debut against the New Jersey Devils in 1991.
After losing game two, the Penguins changed things up and
went with rookie netminder, Matt Murray between the pipes, who won the next
three against the Rangers to send them to the second round.
In the second round, with the exception of game five, all
games were one goal games with goaltenders Murray and Braden Holtby being tough
to beat at each end of the ice. Three of the games even took longer than 60
minutes to determine a winner.
The Penguins number one defenseman, Kris Letang, has been
putting up elite performances, which is usually one of the key factors teams
look for in postseason success. When Letang has been on the ice, the Pens have
outscored the opposition 22-9, the largest of any National Hockey League
defenseman this postseason.
Letang leads all defenseman with a plus-7, is fourth in ice time
averaging 29:26 per game and sixth in points, with eight in their 10 playoff
games.
Many people did not give the Lightning much of a shot, when
captain and leading scorer Steven Stamkos went down with a blood clot in his
right arm. The Bolts have also been without defenseman Anton Strahlman in the
first two rounds.
The most effective line for the Lightning has been their top
line of Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov. The “Triplets Line” has
combined to score 16 of Tampa’s 30 goals throughout the playoffs. The most of
any line in the NHL. Johnson and Kucherov are a plus-11, with Killorn a
plus-10.
Kucherov has been the main aspect of that line with nine
goals. The Lightning have outscored their opponents 20-3 when Kucherov is on
the ice. The largest margin of any player in the league during the 2016
postseason.
The penalty killing for both teams are pretty much even,
with the Pens having the fifth best penalty killers in the NHL during the
regular season at 84.4 percent and the playoffs at 83 percent, while the Bolts
were the seventh best during the regular season at 84 percent and third this postseason
at 88.4 percent.
The team that scores first will have a huge advantage, as
the Lightning are 6-1 when opening the scoring during the playoffs, the Pens
are 5-1 when they light the lamp first. Kucherov and Vladimir Tarasenko, of the
St. Louis Blues, lead the NHL with three first goals of the game.
Neither the Pens nor the Bolts have lost when taking a lead into
the second or third period, in the 2016 playoffs. The Lightning have outscored
the opposition in the final period 13-4, while the Penguins have been outscored
in the third 10-9.
During the regular season, the Lightning won all three
matchups with the Penguins, outscoring them 15-9. All three games were after
the coaching change.
The Penguins last went to the Eastern Conference finals in
2013, when the Boston Bruins swept them, while the Lightning were there last
season, defeating the Rangers in seven games.
The Penguins last won the Stanley Cup in 2009, getting their
revenge over the Red Wings from the season before and the Lightning last won
hockey’s holy grail, in 2004 over the Calgary Flames in seven games.
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