Lightning shut out Rangers
Bishop has 26 saves as Tampa Bay can advance at home.
Steven Stamkos set up Valtteri Filppula’s goahead goal and scored another and the Tampa Bay Lightning pushed the New York Rangers to the brink of playoff elimination with 2-0 victory Sunday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Ben Bishop, who gave up 10 goals in the previous two games, had 26 saves in posting his second shutout of the playoffs and getting Tampa Bay within a victory of reaching the Stanley Cup finals for the second time in franchise history. They won the Cup in 2004.
Tampa Bay’s special teams played a major role. They killed off four power plays in clinical fashion in the opening 31 minutes of a scoreless game, limiting New York to four shots, and then Stamkos added a power-play goal after Filppula opened the scoring.
Game 6 is Tuesday night in Florida.
Patient Blackhawks tie up West: One lucky bounce.
It might not sound like much of a strategy for playing sudden-death hockey, but patience has kept the Chicago Blackhawks perfect in over- time this postseason.
They’ve now gone into extra time four times and won them all, including a 5-4 decision Saturday night that marked their second overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks and evened their Tampa Bay 2, N.Y. Rangers 0 (Lightning lead 3-2) Western Conference finals series at 2-2.
Antoine Vermette, who was switched out of Game 3 for “fresher legs” by coach Joel Quenneville, scored the gamewinner 5:37 into the extra period. Vermette’s first wrister from the deep slot was blocked, but he collected the rebound and coolly held his second shot until he was at a tight angle along the left goal line — testing his nerves against those of Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen.
“I was trying to find the puck ... I didn’t see it,” Andersen said afterward. “I tried to take away the bottom of the ice, but he was able to lift it.”
Game 5 of the series is scheduled for tonight in Anaheim.