Lightning, Penguins have goalie issues sorted out

As teams that are eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs take stock of their status and lick their wounds, the truism that is emerging comes down to one factor: Goaltending. If you have it, you’re in good shape. The Dallas Stars found that out the hard way, a good team let down by questionable goaltending.

Front offices in Arizona and Florida are reshaping to dig deeper into analytics, thinking in ways few have thought before in order to find an edge. Presumably a cheap one.

The New York Islanders will be under new majority ownership, perhaps able to spend to keep their pending free agents or add a better support system for John Tavares.

The Maple Leafs see themselves with a strong farm system ready to rise up, but they must be asking themselves the same question others are: Who’s going to play net?

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning, who meet Friday in Gamd 1 of the Eastern Conference final — have their netminding questions answered. For the most part, the rest do not. The Penguins will almost certainly stick with rookie Matt Murray, who is 7-2 in the post-season and the first rookie goaltender to win multiple series-clinching games in the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2006. He has outplayed Henrik Lundqvist and Braden Holtby.

The Lightning will go with Ben Bishop, who is on a four-game winning streak, is 8-2 in the playoffs and has five career playoff shutouts — four of them in a series-clinching win. have more.

LIGHTNING VS. PENGUINS

The Pens are riding an emotional high having eliminated No.1 seed Washington . . . The Lightning have eliminated the two lowest seeds possible to get here . . .Sidney Crosby has his best supporting crew in years . . . The Lightning were winning without Steve Stamkos and Anton Stralman . . . The Pens have three lines that can score. Edge: Penguins in seven. Record: 4-4 in the first round, 1-2 so far in the second round.