Thursday, May 26, 2016

Eastern Conference Final: 2) Pittsburgh Penguins VS. 2) Tampa Bay Lightning

As usual, this post covers the entire series in the first round of this year's NHL playoffs.

Game 1: CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In goal: Ben Bishop for Tampa Bay and Matt Murray for Pittsburgh. Bishop was injured in the first period, and Andrei Vasilevskiy was forced to come on in relief. Tampa Bay struck first in the first period with an Alex Killorn goal, his fourth of the postseason, set up by Victor Hedman. The Lightning added on with an Ondrej Palat power play goal in the second period, his third of the playoffs, powered by Valtteri Filppula and Jason Garrison. Tampa Bay extended the lead as Jonathan Drouin scored his second of the postseason, thanks to Palat and Filppula. Pittsburgh got on the board with a Patric Hornqvist power play goal, his sixth of the playoffs, made possible by Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel. This only made it 3-1, the eventual final, with the three stars being Palat, Vasilevskiy (25 for 26 in saves in relief), and Filppula. Tampa Bay has a 1-0 series lead.

Game 2: CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In goal: Andrei Vasilevskiy for Tampa Bay and Matt Murray for Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh started in the first period with a Matt Cullen goal, his fourth of the postseason, assisted by Eric Fehr and Tom Kuhnhackl. The Penguins added on with a Phil Kessel goal, his sixth of the playoffs, via Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin. Tampa Bay got on the board with an Anton Stralman goal, courtesy of Jonathan Marchessault and Victor Hedman. The Lightning tied it on a Jonathan Drouin goal, his third of the postseason, coming off of J.T. Brown and Matthew Carle. Pittsburgh won 3-2 with a Sidney Crosby goal in overtime, his fourth of the playoffs, guided in by Bryan Rust and Brian Dumoulin. The three stars were Crosby, Kessel, and Cullen. The series is tied at 1 heading to the south.


Game 3: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida. In goal: Matt Murray for Pittsburgh and Andrei Vasilevskiy for Tampa Bay. Pittsburgh got going in the second period with a Carl Hagelin goal, his fifth of the postseason, coming off of Phil Kessel. The Penguins added on in the third period with a Kessel goal, his seventh of the playoffs, via Nick Bonino and Hagelin. Tampa Bay got on the board with a Tyler Johnson goal, his fifth of the postseason, assisted by Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat. Pittsburgh shot back with a Sidney Crosby power play goal, his fifth of the playoffs, powered by Evgeni Malkin and Justin Schultz. The Penguins extended the lead as Kunitz scored his second of the postseason, going in unassisted. The Lightning answered with a Palat goal, his fourth of the playoffs, fueled by Kucherov and Matthew Carle. The game ended 4-2, with the three stars handed to Kessel, Hagelin, and Palat, while Kucherov gets an honorable mention. The series favors Pittsburgh 2-1 now.

Game 4: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida. In goal: Matt Murray for Pittsburgh and Andrei Vasilevskiy for Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay opened in the first period with a Ryan Callahan goal, his second of the postseason, courtesy of Victor Hedman and J.T. Brown. The Lightning added on with an Andrej Sustr goal, via Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn. Tampa Bay extended the lead in the second period as Jonathan Drouin scored his fourth of the playoffs on the power play, thanks to Ondrej Palat and Hedman. The Lightning padded the lead with a Tyler Johnson goal, his sixth of the postseason, assisted by Kucherov and Killorn. Pittsburgh got on the board in the third period with a Phil Kessel goal, his eighth of the playoffs, passed from Nick Bonino and Brian Dumoulin. The Penguins pulled closer with an Evgeni Malkin goal, his fourth of the postseason, helped along by Ian Cole. Pittsburgh got closer with a Chris Kunitz power play goal, his third of the playoffs, powered by Justin Schultz and Conor Sheary. The final held at 4-3 for the Lightning, with the three stars going to Kucherov, Killorn, and Hedman. The series heads north again tied at 2.

Game 5: CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In goal: Andrei Vasilevskiy for Tampa Bay and Marc-Andre Fleury for Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh led off in the first period with a Brian Dumoulin goal, assisted by Bryan Rust and Chris Kunitz. The Penguins added on with a Patric Hornqvist goal in the second period, his seventh of the postseason, coming off of Carl Hagelin and Olli Maatta. Tampa Bay got on the board with an Alex Killorn goal, his fifth of the playoffs, fueled by Andrej Sustr. The Lightning tied it with a Nikita Kucherov goal, his tenth of the postseason, passed from Vladislav Namestnikov. Pittsburgh retook the lead with a Kunitz goal, his fourth of the playoffs, with a lone assist by Evgeni Malkin. Tampa Bay tied it in the third period with a Kucherov goal, his second of the game and eleventh of the postseason, made possible by Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat. The Lightning won 4-3 in overtime with a Johnson goal, his seventh of the playoffs, guided in by Jason Garrison and Kucherov. The three stars were Kucherov, Johnson, and Kunitz. The Lightning lead the series 3-2 as they return home with a chance to close it out.

Game 6: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida. In goal: Matt Murray for Pittsburgh and Andrei Vasilevskiy for Tampa Bay. Pittsburgh began in the first period with a Phil Kessel power play goal, his ninth of the postseason, powered by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins added on in the second period with a Kris Letang goal, his second of the playoffs, helped along by Conor Sheary and Nick Bonino. Pittsburgh extended the lead as Crosby scored his sixth of the postseason, thanks to Patric Hornqvist. Tampa Bay got on the board in the third period with a Brian Boyle goal, his fourth of the playoffs, going in unassisted. The Lightning got closer with Boyle's second of the game and fifth of the postseason, via Slater Koekkoek and Jonathan Drouin. The Penguins shot back on a Bryan Rust goal, his third of the playoffs, passed from Chris Kunitz and Olli Maatta. Pittsburgh iced it at 5-2 with a Bonino empty net goal, his third of the postseason, set up by Ben Lovejoy. The three stars were handed to Crosby, Boyle, and Bonino. The Penguins have again tied the series, setting up a big game 7 with a trip to the Stanley Cup Final on the line. 

Game 7: CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In goal: Andrei Vasilevskiy for Tampa Bay and Matt Murray for Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh dented the scoreboard in the second period with a Bryan Rust goal, his fourth of the postseason, guided in by Chris Kunitz and Evgeni Malkin. Tampa Bay tied it on a Jonathan Drouin goal, his fifth of the playoffs, via Valtteri Filppula and Victor Hedman. The Penguins retook the lead with a Rust goal, his second of the game and fifth of the postseason, passed from Ben Lovejoy and Malkin. The final held from here at 2-1, with the three stars going to Rust, Malkin, and Murray (16 for 17 in saves). The Penguins take the series 4-3, and they have home-ice advantage against the San Jose Sharks for the Stanley Cup.

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