Tampa. The defending champion is on his way to the Rockies and a final settlement with Colorado.
Probably.
Anyway, they beat the leaky New York Rangers at home in Tampa last night and seemed to dominate the Eastern Conference Final.
– But now it’s starting to get really difficult, warns captain Stephen Stamkos after winning 4-1.
Yes, Tampa Bay Lightning “only” made sure to equalize the match series at Amalie Arena and New York Rangers He still has the home court advantage in the top three dramas that follow now.
But it really felt like the entire Eastern Conference final shifted in favor of the reigning champions in the oppressive heat of West Florida.
The heroes are finished
Already in Round Three on Sunday, the world saw Tampa more intense and intense than in the two games played in Manhattan last week – and last night they were even better.
Yes, I am satisfied with the way we played in these matches. When the sweat was still licking his forehead meets the media afterward, says Stephen Stamkos, our execution was more intense and feeling much better now than when we got home from New York.
– But we can’t sit on our hands and be happy just because we played better at home. Now it’s starting to get really hard, we have to go up to New York and win a game in their fold and that’s not really easy. All the teams that got this far in the qualifiers were very strong at home, and that’s just the case.
Rangers grew up
For their part, the Rangers were shaken with confidence after the initial two victories, but they fell to the ground while visiting Florida. They had a very hard time conquering the needed turning space against their highly disciplined opponent last night and didn’t really create a single advanced goal opportunity until a desperate compulsion at the end, when Artemi Panarin finally managed to break Andrei Vasilevsky.
– But we have not lost faith in ourselves, insists Panarin.
– It is a pity, of course, that we did not manage to take advantage of the opportunity that we had here, but you cannot be disappointed by it. If anything, I think these losses are making us angrier and hungrier.
The next game in the fifth series, will be played at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday night.