Lightning Win 4 Straight Against Rangers to Advance to Stanley Cup Final
Trailing in the series 3-2, the New York Rangers made some unexpected lineup changes heading into Game 6. Kaapo Kakko was a healthy scratch, replaced by Dryden Hunt. Coach Gerard Gallant elected to mix up some of the lines, splitting up Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad from the Rangers' top line.
The high flying first period went scoreless, despite an onslaught of shots and momentum building plays from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Early in the second period, Jacob Trouba incited a crowd after a late, open-ice hit on Corey Perry.
Following Trouba's hit was another controversial hit. Youngster Alexis Lafreniere had a head shot on Victor Hedman.
Steven Stamkos finally broke the scoreless tie with the first goal of the game.
Frank Vatrano scored a powerplay goal to tie the game with six minutes remaining.
After taking the penalty allowing the game-tying goal, Lightning captain Steven Stamkos wasted little time getting the lead back.
Andrei Vasilevskiy was brillant, as usual in closeout games. He had 19 saves on 20 for .950 save percentage. His counterpart, Igor Shesterkin was very good as well, making 29 saves on 31 shots for a .935 save percentage.
The Lightning won 4 straight games in the Eastern Conference Final to advance to the Stanley Cup Final. They will face the Colorado Avalanche for a chance to hoist the Cup for the three-peat. The Final begins Wednesday night.
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YESTERDAY
JUNE 6, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jordan Staal | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Taylor Hall | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Martinook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jackson Blake | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Karlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaccob Slavin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||