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.
from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,
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