A treacherous lightning and thunder storm engulfed the Tampa area all day Saturday, and it figuratively made its way onto the Amalie Arena ice to wash away the Rangers.
The Lightning struck the Rangers down the same way they have their past 10 straight playoff opponents, drowning the visitors in all three zones and riding a two-goal performance from captain Steven Stamkos to hand the Rangers a 2-1 loss that ended their season in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final.
The Lightning are marching on to their third straight Stanley Cup Final, where the Avalanche await, after proving that they are still the masters of closing out series.
“They did, we didn’t,” a dejected Chris Kreider said of the Rangers’ first loss in six elimination games this postseason. “We did it in the first round, the second round and didn’t do it this round, I guess. They got timely goals. We felt like we were in every game.”
The Gotham Reporter 