Lightning strike: Tampa Bay to play for Stanley Cup

Associated Press

NEW YORK

The only history the Tampa Bay Lightning were interested in was what they would create.

Such as handing the New York Rangers their first Game 7 loss at Madison Square Garden, which they did Friday night with their second straight 2-0 road victory behind Ben Bishop’s 22 saves.

Such as heading to their second Stanley Cup final, where they will play Chicago or Anaheim, which will decide the Western Conference title Saturday night.

Such as going 9-0 when scoring first in this postseason, which they did when Alex Killorn slipped a backhander under Henrik Lundqvist early in the third period.

Bishop, pulled from a Game 6 loss after allowing five goals, did much of the rest, and Ondrej Palat iced it with 8:43 to go.

The Lightning, who won the Cup in 2004 in a seventh game over Calgary, allowed only four goals in as many games at the Garden.

“For whatever reason that was probably the most calm Game 7 I’ve ever been a part of,” Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. “And not just for me, but on the bench. Going into the third, we were just loose.

“We knew we were playing the game the right way, we knew were going to get one.”

New York had the NHL’s best record this season and was 15-3 in its last 18 elimination games. The most recent defeat was in the fifth game of the Cup finals last year at Los Angeles. But Bishop made sure there would be another loss for the Rangers, extending his shutout string at the Garden to 145 minutes, 43 seconds.

“It’s painful,” Lundqvist said.