NHL Playoffs: Who will Lightning play in Conference Finals?

The Tampa Bay Lightning are still awaiting their Eastern Conference Finals opponent, but will face a touch challenge either way.

With a 4-0 win in the deciding Game 5 of the Second Round against the New York Islanders on Sunday, the Tampa Bay Lightning advanced to their fourth Conference Finals in franchise history. Now, the Lightning will get some time off before facing a difficult challenge for the right to go to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Tampa Bay will move on to face the winner of the series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, which is currently in progress. Pittsburgh leads the series 3-2, with Game 6 set for Tuesday night. Should Washington win, the deciding Game 7 will be on Thursday night.

As great as the Lightning have been in the first two rounds, either team is going to be their toughest challenge yet. Washington ran away with the President’s Trophy, while the Penguins have been one of the best teams in the NHL over the past three months.

The key to the series was Tampa Bay’s back-to-back overtime wins in Games 3 and 4 at the Barclays Center, both of which required tying Nikita Kucherov goals late in the third. New York came out with little energy following the two deflating losses, and was down 2-0 by the first intermission.

Kucherov now has nine goals in the postseason to lead all players. Victor Hedman was the best all-around player on the ice in the Second Round with outstanding defense and eight points overall.

Tampa Bay needs goaltender Ben Bishop to be at his best to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second straight year. Getting injured stars like Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman back would also help the Lightning’s chances immensely.

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