Tampa Bay Lightning shutout Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0 to advance to semi-finals – NHL playoffs
Tampa Bay Lightning took over the series and stunned Pittsburgh Penguins as they made an amazing comeback to eliminate them in game seven.
With the help of their goalie Dwayne Roloson, the Lightning shutout the Penguins 1-0 and advanced into the semi-finals at the CONSOL Energy Centre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Lightning made one of the greatest comebacks in the National Hockey League playoffs history. Being on the verge of elimination after facing defeat in game four to fall 3-1 behind in the series, the Lightning came back hard and strong. They annihilated
the Penguins in game five by an 8-2 victory and did not look back after that. They tied the series in game six and finally eliminated the Penguins on their own turf in game seven.
Pittsburgh had over 12 minutes of added man advantage throughout the match but could not capitalise on even a single opportunity. Tampa Bay forward Sean Bergenheim scored the competition’s only goal in the second period and they clung to it for the remainder
of the match. The Finnish player stayed consistent in the final game, scoring his third goal in the last four matches against the Penguins. They executed a familiar play while Dominic Moore opened up the opportunity with a backhanded pass which Bergenheim
followed through on. It was the same play that helped them win game six and worked like a charm once again.
“Obviously our offense wasn't there,” Penguins All-Star player Jordan Staal said. “We got a lot of shots, battled hard but it wasn’t our night. We had a lot of chances (on the power play), it just wouldn’t go in for us.”
Dwayne Roloson kept his team intact and motivated. He played exceptionally well even though the Penguins outshot the Lightning 36-23. He blocked all 36 to gain second shutout in his postseason career. Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury fell short on one blocking
22 of 23.
“Obviously, [Roloson] was amazing once again,” Tampa Bay forward Steven Stamkos said. “He's just defying the odds. He was our MVP for sure, but we just battled hard. All we needed was one tonight.”
Pittsburgh had high hopes of winning the series after a great start. They have a number of experienced postseason players but were without a few key players. One of Tampa Bay’s key strategies was to kill the penalties and not letting the opposite team take
advantage of power plays. They killed 34 of 35 power play opportunities which could have taken a different direction if they fell short on even half of those.
It will be for the first time that Tampa Bay face Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference semi-finals. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for that one.
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