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2015 Eastern Conference Finals: New York Rangers vs Tampa Bay Lightning

By Tim Redinger

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The 2015 Eastern Conference Finals are here, and this year it pits the New York Rangers against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Are these the teams that you had hoped would make it into the final four?

Personally, I thought the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals was going to be the Washington Capitals vs Montreal Canadiens – I mean that is what I was hoping for, with the Washington Capitals getting to the dance.  I won’t be doing any color me surprised cartoons, nor am I disappointed – but I did expect both the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning to buckle at some point.

But here we are, and here is how the teams got there:

2015 Easter Conference Finals – New York Rangers

The New York Rangers are the regular season champions, with a record of 53-22-7 they won the Presidents Trophy outright with 113 points.  Only three more than the Montreal Canadiens, but four points better than the best teams in the West.

If your that into history, only two teams since the full lockout have won the Stanley Cup in the same season they won the President’s Trophy, the 2012-2013 Chicago Blackhawks and the 2007-2008 Detroit Red Wings.

How does this version of the New York Rangers stack up against those teams? The last time the New York Rangers won the Presidents Trophy they won the Stanley Cup, all the way back in 1994.  Is this team even close to the power that was that Rangers team?

Round 1 – The Rangers were able to make quick work of the Pittsburgh Penguins, sending the Penguins packing in just five games.

And insert your favorite Pittsburgh Penguins joke here, or stand up and slow clap for the Discovery Channel.

The Washington Capitals pushed the New York Rangers to the brink, but when two teams that want to win and are evenly matched get together, you get a seven game series that comes down to a single overtime goal. That is a lot of hockey to be played to hinge on one goal. That is why I love the NHL.

Did the better team win? Either way the New York Rangers path to this point has them weighing in at 12 games.

2015 Easter Conference Finals – Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning want to prove that last years early exit from the playoffs was because of injuries and not because they couldn’t handle the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

It took the Tampa Bay Lightning 13 games to get to the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals.  This is only the fifth time the Lightning have made the playoffs since the full season lockout.  It was either the conference finals or the first round of the playoffs where the Bolts made their exit in the ten years since the lockout – could this be the year that they up the ante and make it back to the Stanley Cup Finals?

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They have been the last team standing in the Eastern Conference only once, the year they won the Stanley Cup.

In the first round the Detroit Red Wings gave the Tampa Bay Lightning all they could handle in seven games.  Tampa Bay got shutout twice, but they overcame the obstacle.  Detroit isn’t the team they have been in previous years.

Maybe the resilience they needed to get through the first round paid off as they dispatched the Montreal Canadiens in six games, almost needing all seven games once again.

Do the Tampa Bay Lightning have anything left in the tank to overcome the New York Rangers?  Are the Lightning the real deal this year, one year removed not being able to compete in the post season?

2015 Eastern Conference Championship – Decisions

This is going to be a long series, and neither team in the Eastern Conference can afford it to be, but if either team is going to make it the Stanley Cup Finals – they are going to need at least six games.

The NHL has to be rooting for the New York Rangers and the Anaheim Ducks to be in the Stanley Cup Finals – it gives them coast to coast coverage, and a team that hasn’t won the Stanley Cup in at least eight years.

Will the NHL get what they want?  I think the New York Rangers are going to get out of this series.  I think they learned a lot from their series with the Washington Capitals, and will use that to propel themselves into the final stage of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final – by winning the Eastern Conference.

New York Rangers in six games.

Next: What Is Next For The Buffalo Sabres And Mikhail Grigorenko

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