Tampa Bay Lightning

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The Belmont Stakes is this weekend, and we're here to get you ready for it. - Benjamin: "1. Tom Brady (Patriots) -- It's cliche, at this point, to discuss the winning aura that emanates from Brady, but as long as he's in theNFL, few players -- let alone QBs -- merit more trust. He had one in a win-or-go-home Game 6 against the Maple Leafs in the first round of the playoffs and he had one in the series-clinching Game 4 against the Panthers in the second round. ...possesses unteachable creativity in and outside the pocket, and as long as he's paired with Andy Reid, it's tough to bet against his title chances. 2. Aaron Rodgers (Packers) -- Like Brady, A-Rod has only shifted into a higher gear with age, returning to high-volume stardom under Matt LaFleur as the NFL's reigning repeat MVP." - Porter: "The big winners on Thursday were not Greg Norman and the LIV Golf league, but rather the USGA, R&A, PGA of America and Augusta National. When the humdrum of everyday tour life is split and replicated over and over again, it only makes golf's 'postseason' -- if that's what we want to call it -- even more important. To sign up and get this in your inbox, fill out the information below. They know this, too, and it is the reason they likely won't stand in the way of any regular-season tour that pops up." - Bengel: "Tampa Bay has a 8-2 all-time record when leading 3-2 in a best-of-seven series. 2. Josh Allen (Bills) -- It's fitting that the Bills' last two seasons have ended in playoff thrillers against the Chiefs, because Allen is the closest thing to Mahomes in terms of the contemporary prototype under center -- big, athletic, and wired to make the big play." Let's face it: It's never easy to rank quarterbacks best to worst. Shortly thereafter,Brandon Hagel's empty-netter sealed the game.

Though they were facing the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning, and though they had needed seven games to advance from each of the first two ...

The Rangers won Game 2 at home, 3-2, and took a 2-0 lead in Game 3 in Tampa. But that was the high-water mark. They came back twice against the Hurricanes in the next round, and won another Game 7. The Rangers were called for just two in-game penalties and the Lightning one. Defenseman Ryan Lindgren scored for his first point of the series and second goal of the playoffs via a speculative flick from near the boards that maybe was intended for a deflection. In Game 4, the Lightning dominated in a 4-1 victory. The Lightning at times in the early going looked less like the two-time defending champions and more like a team awed by the occasion. After the second period, the gap in shots was gone, and both goalies had made exactly 15 saves on 16 shots. The Rangers finally got theirs at 10:29 of the second period not from dominance, but almost from happenstance. And this came from a Rangers team that had been outshot, 153-127, in the first four games. Even after losing two games in Tampa to allow the Lightning to tie the series, there was an unshakable sense of confidence in Rangerland coming into Game 5. The Rangers started the night promisingly. And all the more frustrating because the key Tampa goals came not entirely from the power trio of Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat, but also from an unlikely defenseman taking a couple of low-percentage shots.

The Lightning scored the go-ahead goal with less than two minutes remaining and have a chance to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup final when the series ...

The Lightning have a chance to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup final when the best-of-seven series returns to Amalie Arena in Tampa for Game 6 on Saturday night. The Lightning scored the go-ahead goal with less than two minutes remaining and have a chance to clinch a spot in the Stanley Cup final when the series returns to Tampa for Game 6 on Saturday night. Ondrej Palat scored on a deflection with 1:50 remaining to break a tie and lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night for a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference final.

So, when you've got two goalies playing the way the Lightning's Andrei Vasilevskiy and Rangers' Igor Shesterkin have in the Eastern Conference final, you've got ...

Less than two minutes into the game, Kucherov beat Shesterkin high on the glove side after a cross-corner dump pass from Stamkos but hit the crossbar. Lightning forwards Nikita Kucherov and Nick Paul both got pucks past Shesterkin in the first period. He was there for his teammates in the third period, as well, stopping a Ryan Lindgren shot from the right post and a Frank Vatrano wraparound attempt. Bogosian made up for the gaffe in the third period by preventing a potential go-ahead goal. But Palat got caught up ice and was still outside the blue line when Lindgren collected the puck along the left-side boards. Lightning forwards did a good job of getting close to Shesterkin and blocking his view, while the Tampa Bay defense mostly boxed out well in front of Vasilevskiy.

John Romano | Heart-stopping finishes are becoming routine for the Lightning in the 2022 playoffs. Just ask the Rangers.

You play to the end, and the guys have done that.” You could look at how Andrei Vasilevskiy has grown larger in the net. Beating New York in Madison Square Garden is no easy feat, and it took the Lightning nearly every second of the game’s 60 minutes to pull off this comeback. To New York in Game 3 and now a repeat performance in Game 5. If there is something impressive about this latest run, it’s that Brayden Point has not been on the ice for the last three winners. And you’ve got to play within that,” Cooper said. The Lightning did it to Toronto in Game 6. This is nothing new for this group. This time it was an Ondrej Palat deflection of a Mikhail Sergachev shot that broke a tie with 1:50 remaining in a 3-1 win against the Rangers. “I can’t sit here and say we have a magic potion for that,” coach Jon Cooper said. To Florida in Game 2. But don’t even for a minute think this stuff is preordained.

A Tampa Bay Lightning fan was sucker punched in the jaw following an argument at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night ... and the blow was so violent, ...

Cops say a witness told them the puncher then attempted to flee the scene. Tampa Bay Lightning Fan Violently Sucker Punched At MSG ... Knocked Out Cold Tampa Bay Lightning Fan Violently Sucker Punched At MSG, Knocked Out Cold

Left wing Ondrej Palat scored the first of two goals in the final 1:50, along with fellow winger Brandon Hagel, while defenseman Mikhail Sergachev scored to ...

The two-time defending champions can advance to the Stanley Cup Final with a win at home in Game 6. The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Rangers 3-1 in Game 5 on Thursday night to take a 3-2 series lead. The Lightning are now just one win away from a third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final.