Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Believe It Tampa Bay

05/30/2015 at 6:44am EDT

from Tom Jones of the Tampa Bay Times,

Step aside, Brad Richards. Move over, Vinny Lecavalier. Make some room, Nikolai Khabibulin. The stars of the 2004 Stanley Cup championship team now have some company. For the second time in franchise history, the Lightning will play for the Stanley Cup.

"This is a special group," Killorn said. "We've known that since Day 1."

Survive and advance. Three rounds down and one to go. The dream is alive and well thanks to Friday night's improbable 2-0 victory over the Rangers in a winner-take-all Game 7 at Madison Square Garden.

"I can't tell you how excited I am to play for the Stanley Cup," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said.

Few gave the Lightning a chance. Not against the Rangers. Not in New York. The Rangers had played seven Game 7s at home and had never lost. They couldn't be beat.

Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, an elimination-game specialist, is the best big-game goalie in the business. He couldn't lose.

The Lightning, after losing at home in Game 6 and seemingly blowing its chance to wrap up the series, had to go all the way to New York in what seemed like a death march. It couldn't win.

"There weren't many people picking us," Lightning goalie Ben Bishop said.

"We were kind of underdogs coming in," center Tyler Johnson said.

more

from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

They were here to win. And they truly felt they could do just that even though no other team had done it to the Rangers in a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden ... ever.

"No one probably believed that we were going to win this game," Stamkos said after his team booked its ticket to the Stanley Cup finals with a 2-0 Game 7 win at a stunned Madison Square Garden. "Not that we took it personally, but we had a little bit of an attitude coming in here.

"Maybe a little motivation watching all the networks talking about how the Rangers were this unbeatable force in Game 7. Give them credit, they’re an unbelievable team. Henrik Lundqvist lived up to the billing tonight, he played outstanding. But we believed in ourselves. Obviously helped winning two prior games here. When you can come in at this time of year and win three games on the road in a building like this, you deserve to move on."

read on

Create an Account

In order to leave a comment, please create an account.

About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

Email Paul anytime at [email protected]

Most Recent Posts

Most Recent Comments

Comment by bigfrog in Kukla's Korner Hockey from the entry Nashville's Top Line - 2 hours ago
Comment by exor54 in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Time To Talk On A Day Off - 3 hours ago
Comment by RWHockey13 in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Time To Talk On A Day Off - 5 hours ago
Comment by damndogrevenge in Abel to Yzerman from the entry Time To Talk On A Day Off - 5 hours ago
Comment by Paul in Kukla's Korner Hockey from the entry NHL GMs Agree To Keep Regular Season OT Format - 5 hours ago