Yesterday, we considered the line-by-line battle in the Western Conference Final. Here, we turn our focus to the compelling contest in the East between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Tampa Bay emerged triumphant after two close series in the Atlantic. The Detroit Red Wings leaned hard on veteran pivot Pavel Datsyuk and young goalie Petr Mrazek, forcing seven games before bowing out. A series against Montreal ended in six games, despite an exceptional performance from the Habs defence and all-world goalie Carey Price. In both cases, the Lightning were tested thoroughly and passed.
The Metropolitan was no less competitive, and the Rangers ground their way past opposition superstars. A wounded Penguins team still featured Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin but failed to penetrate New York's defence and was consequently dispatched with relative ease.
Washington was a tougher challenge but after a tough seven-game series against the Isles fell just short in a 2-1 overtime decision in Game 7 vs. the Rangers.
How do these two worthy clubs stack up against each other? The following slideshow goes through the rosters on ...
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Article written by Jonathan Willis
Lightning vs. Rangers: Line-by-Line Breakdown of 2015 Eastern Conference Final
May 15th, 2015 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »
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