by The Tampa Bay Lightning are yet again in the Stanley Cup finals. They return for a second straight year, and only the Montreal Canadiens stand in between them and repeating as cup champions. They secured their place after an uneventful yet nail-biting game 7 at Amalie Arena in Tampa on Friday night.
There were some concerns over the availability of Nikita Kucherov following the crosscheck he took from Scott Mayfield in game 6. Kucherov played, but it would be his compatriots who stole the show. Vasilevskiy is a top three goaltender in the league and is an ironman for the Lightning.
He has started every game in the last two playoff runs and rarely does he have a poor outing. The Islanders rotated the netminder more frequently, with both Varlamov and rookie Ilya Sorokin playing meaningful time this postseason.
The first period was, for the most part, conservative and defensive hockey. Tampa controlled the pace of play and possession but were unable to create many high danger chances. Anthony Beauvillier was perhaps the most energetic skater on the ice, producing the best chance of the period when he won a footrace and was in alone on Vasilevskiy. This would be the best chance of the period for either team in what would be a rather sloppy first period.
The breakthrough would come shortly into the second period. The Islanders went to the powerplay, but a great defensive effort from Ryan McDonagh would set up a Yanni Gourde shorthanded goal, and Tampa would take the lead.
The goal was far too easy for Tampa, as Anthony Cirelli sliced through the Islanders d-zone and fed Gourde in the slot, who put it past the glove of Varlamov. The Islanders had a surge towards the end of the period, but Vasilevskiy stood tall.
Despite the physicality increase in the second period, the third period felt a lot like the first period. Both teams were sloppy offensively and conservative defensively, but the Lightning had no problem grinding out an ugly win. Matthew Barzal created the best Islander chances, but Vasilevskiy was solid when called upon. New York had a last-minute surge with Varlamov on the bench, but Tampa was able to fend them off.
The Lightning have built a fantastic roster over the last decade, likely one of the best rosters of all time. They may be $10 million over the salary cap, but their run is still extremely impressive. Any team that can have arguably the best goaltender, defenseman, and forward line in the entire league on their team is going to be tough to beat, and Tampa is showing us just that.
While the Islanders season ended in nearly the exact same fashion as last year, it was still an impressive playoff run. Barry Trotz continues to show us why he’s considered one of the best coaches in the league, lifting this roster yet again above expectations. The Islanders will have a new arena next year and will be back looking for their revenge.
This leaves us with a Stanley Cup final to look forward to. Normally division rivals (in a non-COVID world), Montreal and Tampa are no strangers to each other. It will be a battle of experience and youth, with fantastic goaltending from each.
