The Tampa Bay Lightning are just one win away from securing a berth in the Stanley Cup Final. The Lightning are also playing at Amalie Arena, where they’ve been excellent all season long. Can the Lightning take this all-important game? Or will their inexperience show against the savvy veterans of the New York Rangers?
Read on as a collection of experts answer these questions below. For more information on the Rangers vs. Lightning Game 6, check out our complete preview.
[sc:NHLArticles ]Experts Predictions for New York Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Game 6
Series Scores and Schedule
Game 1 – Tampa Bay Lightning 1 at New York Rangers 2
Game 2 – Tampa Bay Lightning 4 at New York Rangers 2
Game 3 – New York Rangers 5 at Tampa Bay Lightning 6 (OT)
Game 4 – May 22, 8:00 PM ET – New York Rangers 5 at Tampa Bay Lightning 1
Game 5 – May 24, 8:00 PM ET – Tampa Bay Lightning 2 at New York Rangers 0
Game 6 – May 26, 8:00 PM ET – New York Rangers (+110) at Tampa Bay Lightning (-130); total: 5.0 – view all NHL lines
Game 7* – May 29, 8:00 PM ET – Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers
*If necessary
Bleacher Report
| Expert | Prediction |
|---|---|
| Daniel Rogers | Lightning 3-1 |
[sc:NHL240 ]Daniel Rogers of Bleacher Report notes that the New York Rangers are one hell of a team, winning the President’s Trophy in the regular season. But that sort of success hasn’t translated too well in the playoffs. They struggled in five one-goal games in their first series against Pittsburgh. The Rangers also needed seven games in handling Washington in the conference semifinal.
The Rangers will struggle on the road in Game 6, Rogers believes. The Lightning are just too good on home ice to have another dud of a performance like Game 4’s 5-1 loss. Steven Stamkos is also looking like the killer he was in the regular season having scored in each of the past four games of the conference final.
Covers
| Expert | Prediction |
|---|---|
| Covers | Rangers 3-2 |
The Rangers may be in a 3-2 series hole. But that shouldn’t bother them too much considering their pair of comeback wins over the past two seasons, Covers notes. New York overcame a 3-1 series deficit against Washington in the previous round, and did the same against Pittsburgh last year.
Covers also notes Henrik Lundqvist’s ability to step up for elimination games. He is 14-3 with a 1.39 GAA and .956 save percentage when facing elimination. But it won’t come easy against the red-hot Lightning. Stamkos, in particular, has been a monster for Tampa Bay with seven tallies in his last 10 games.
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Top Bet
| Expert | Prediction |
|---|---|
| Top Bet | Lightning |
Top Bet believes Tampa Bay will book a trip to the Stanley Cup Final. The Lightning just have too much talent available at their disposal. The Triplets line of Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov has been deadly, scoring 10 of its 25 playoff goals in the conference final alone.
But goalie Ben Bishop’s less-than-stellar performance at home may prove dangerous against the ever resilient Rangers. Bishop is just 5-4 with a 2.61 GAA and .897 save percentage in nine home games this postseason. He has allowed a total of 10 goals in the past two games on home ice in the conference final.
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