Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist has won an NHL-record six consecutive Game 7s, and he is on a mission to add one more.
If you're the Lightning, how do you proceed confidently, knowing full well history won't be in your corner? They have their reasons -- and the chance to play for the coveted Stanley Cup is one of them.
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The most recent sample size is favorable for Tampa. While the Rangers are 7-0 all time in Game 7s played at Madison Square Garden, the Lightning have won two out of three games there so far in the series, outscoring the Rangers 9-3, and winning four out of five overall this season.
Both teams have faced Game 7 pressure already in this year's playoffs. The Lightning faced elimination in the first round against the Red Wings, a 31-save shutout by Ben Bishop. The Rangers topped the Capitals in their second-round series victory.
If the Rangers win, they'd be headed back to the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive year. They lost 4-1 to the Los Angeles Kings. The Lightning haven't been back since they won it all in 2004 against Calgary.
They face off Friday at 8 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.
Key players:
Henrik Lundqvist, G, Rangers: He's 4-0 in Game 7s at home and 15-3 in elimination games since 2012, posting a 1.47 goals-against average and .954 save percentage in those games. It's hard to imagine a more important player.
Ben Bishop, G, Lightning: Bishop has started 23 consecutive games, which isn't unheard of this time of year. But he's allowed five goals in three of the Lightning's last four games, causing some questions over his stamina at this point. He did have a 26-save shutout in Game 5 at Madison Square Garden — site of Game 7.
They said it:
“Their 7-0 record, or whatever it is, that hasn’t happened against us,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “There was some other stat that was out there that Lundqvist had some record in his Game 5, 6 and 7s, and we found a way to break that in Game 5.
"Maybe for the Rangers, you get to hang your hat on that,” Cooper said. “We haven’t been a part of that history, so it doesn’t affect us. They haven’t done it against our group and our team, and we’ve got a pretty young, confident group. When we’ve been pushed against the wall, we’ve found an unbelievable way to push back. We’re looking for that again on Friday.”
How they got here:
Game 1: Rangers 2, Lightning 1
Game 2: Lightning 6, Rangers 2
Game 3: Lightning 6, Rangers 5
Game 4: Rangers 5, Lightning 1
Game 5: Lightning 2, Rangers 0
Game 6: Rangers 7, Lightning 3