Lightning shut out Islanders in Game 7, make it back to Final
Yanni Gourde’s secondperiod, short-handed goal was the difference and Andrei Vasilevskiy collected the shutout as the Tampa Bay Lightning advanced to the Stanley Cup Final with a home-ice 1-0 victory over the New York Islanders in their Game 7 clash Friday night.
The Lightning, the defending Cup champions, will face the Montreal Canadiens in the championship round, which kicks off Monday in Tampa.
Vasilevskiy made 18 saves to earn his fourth shutout of this year’s playoffs and the fifth of his career in the postseason. He has collected a shutout in each of Tampa Bay’s past four series-clinching victories, including Game 6 of last year’s finals against the Dallas Stars.
Semyon Varlamov stopped 30 shots in a Herculean effort for the Islanders, who have been eliminated by the Lightning in the semifinals in consecutive years. The Islanders were shut out in their final two road games during the exciting series.
After the Lightning dominated play all through the opening period to no avail, despite a 15-5 edge in shots, Gourde’s goal early in the second period broke the deadlock.
After a rush up ice, Anthony Cirelli circled with the puck in the offensive zone and spied Gourde as he joined the play from off the bench. Gourde buried a one-timer from the slot for his fifth goal of the playoffs at the 1:49 mark of the frame.
It was the first-ever short-handed goal in a Game 7 by a Tampa Bay player.
The Lightning, who have now won 13 consecutive playoff games following a defeat, maintained momentum for almost the whole game. CANADIENS EYE BIGGER PRIZE >>Shea Weber and the Montreal Canadiens kept their hands off the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl after advancing to the Stanley Cup Final, and even rookie Cole Caufield had no interest in touching it.
“Obviously there’s a bigger one out there that we’re chasing, so I think that’s the only thing on our mind right now,” Caufield said, following a 3-2 OT semifinal series-clinching win over Vegas in Game 6. “It’s good to enjoy it. We’ve come a long way to get here, but the job is not finished.”
Montreal is in the final for the 35th time in the franchise’s illustrious history and will face the Tampa Bay Lightning for a chance to win an NHLleading 25th championship. Not only do the Canadiens not celebrate secondplace finishes, but perhaps it’s best Weber avoided the semifinal trophy typically given out to the Western Conference champion because Campbell is not wellliked in Quebec.
Campbell was the league president who suspended Maurice “Rocket” Richard for the remainder of the season and playoffs for hitting a linesman during a game in March 1955, leading to riots in Montreal.
The Canadiens had never captured the trophy named for Campbell in their history — they’ve won the Prince of Wales a record 25 times — but in this unusual season with teams playing in reformatted visions that was the case Thursday night.
Now the focus turns toward the Cup, and there’s no such hatred toward namesake Lord Stanley.