Rangers vs Lightning

TAMPA -- The message was clear from the Tampa Bay Lightning locker room after a 7-3 loss to the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final on Tuesday: Move on and prepare for Game 7.

The Rangers tied the best-of-7 series at 3-3 and will host Game 7 at Madison Square Garden on Friday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

Tampa Bay had a golden opportunity to advance to the Stanley Cup Final on home ice. The Lightning were 32-8-1 at Amalie Arena during the regular season, the best home record in the NHL. But in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they are 5-5 at home and have given up 34 goals.

The Lightning are 6-3 on the road in the postseason and have allowed 16 goals.

"It would be nice if you could put your finger on [the home losses]," Lightning goalie Ben Bishop said. "But I don't know what the reason is. It's a really good building for us to play in and it's nice to win in front of these fans."

TAMPA -- New York Rangers forward Rick Nash had three goals in 25 games last postseason, but it didn't prevent his team from reaching the Stanley Cup Final.

Nash endured another drought in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but he had a goal and three assists Tuesday to help the Rangers stave off elimination with a 7-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amalie Arena to tie the best-of-7 series at 3-3.

The Rangers can reach the Stanley Cup Final for a second straight season with a win in Game 7 on Friday at Madison Square Garden (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

Nash has three goals in the past three games and ranks second on the Rangers in scoring with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 18 games.

TAMPA -- The New York Rangers are no strangers to the position they're in right now, facing elimination going into Game 6 of a Stanley Cup Playoff series. They're also no strangers to winning in this position.

The Rangers head into Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports) trailing 3-2 in the best-of-7 series facing elimination for the fourth time in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs and for the 18th time since the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

New York is 3-0 when facing elimination this year and 14-3 going back to their series against the Ottawa Senators in 2012. Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist has played in all 17 of the games and has a 1.39 goals-against average and .956 save percentage in them.

For additional insight into the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning during the Eastern Conference Final series, NHL.com has enlisted the help of Dave Farrish to break down the action. Farrish will be checking in throughout the series.

Farrish was an assistant coach for the Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs from 2005-14. He won the Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007. He also coached 1,027 games in the minor leagues, including the American Hockey League. In addition, Farrish, a former defenseman, played 430 games over seven seasons in the NHL.

In order to get enough pucks through to challenge Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Ben Bishop in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final, Dave Farrish thinks the New York Rangers need to think and shoot the way they did in a Game 5 win against the Washington Capitals in the second round.

The Lightning blocked 24 shots in a 2-0 win in Game 4 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday and lead the best-of-7 series 3-2. Game 6 is at Amalie Arena on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

For additional insight into the Eastern Conference Final, NHL.com has enlisted the help of Chris Dennis to break down the Tampa Bay Lightning. Dennis will be checking in throughout the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Dennis spent 10 seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, including the past two as an assistant coach under Randy Carlyle and Peter Horachek. Prior to that he was the Maple Leafs' video coach for eight seasons.

After allowing five goals in consecutive games of the Eastern Conference Final, the Tampa Bay Lightning were committed to being better defensively in Game 5 against the New York Rangers on Sunday.

And in their 2-0 shutout, the Lightning accomplished that goal, according to Chris Dennis. The Lightning allowed 26 shots on goal and blocked 24 shots.

"You could tell they really committed defensively [Sunday] night," Dennis said. "And you could see from the first period the shots were 6-4 [for Tampa Bay] and as the game went on it got a little better for Tampa but they obviously were very committed defensively last night. ... You can look at their blocked shots last night, I think they had double what the Rangers did [24-11]. You can just see that real commitment to team defense. When you commit like that, you've got some game breakers that can score offensively, they don't need a lot of time and space. And you've got your goalie playing well. That's usually a recipe for success."

NEW YORK -- The Tampa Bay Lightning took a page out of the New York Rangers' playbook Sunday night and beat them at their own game, looking every bit as comfortable and confident as they are when they wind up their speed and skill to turn a game into a track meet.

This was yet another sign of growth in the Lightning, a team that started the Stanley Cup Playoffs green but is now looking like a grizzled, seasoned group that's ready to win in any way against any team on the biggest stage in hockey.

They're one win away from getting there.

Tampa Bay won 2-0 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final at Madison Square Garden with great patience, momentum-swinging penalty-killing, a goal off of a quick transition, a tic-tac-toe goal on the power play, and a suffocating performance in the third period.

"If we're going to have any chance of winning, that's how we have to do it," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said after Game 1 in this series that the Lightning needed to play more like the Rangers to reach the Stanley Cup Final.

NEW YORK -- Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos finished second in the NHL regular season with 43 goals, then had none in the first eight games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Despite that, the Lightning advanced to the Eastern Conference Final against the New York Rangers, and Stamkos has been unstoppable since, scoring a goal in six of his past seven games, including one with an assist in a 2-0 win in Game 5 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday to give the Lightning a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7-series.

Stamkos has four goals and three assists in the series, and seven goals and 14 points in his past 10 games.

"I am definitely more confident now than I was the first eight games, no question, but I think for me, it was a great adversity test," said Stamkos, who scored a power-play goal at 18:22 of the second period to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. "Our team was winning, which was great. … But I knew I was playing the right way, and when you play the right way, things are going to start going your way."

NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers scored 10 goals in their prior two games against the Tampa Bay Lightning, four on the power play. The Rangers created quality scoring chances and had the Lightning and goalie Ben Bishop on their heels.

But Sunday, in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final, Tampa Bay took away the chances and the shots, and defeated the Rangers 2-0 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-7 series.

Tampa Bay eliminated time and space, collapsed in the shooting lanes, and kept New York and the puck to the outside.

"They had a lot of layers," Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi said. "They had the first guy come at you and get right in the lane, and you get it by that guy, and there's another guy in front of the net that's trying to block it. They did a really good job of that tonight. We just have to find a way to get it past that first guy and hopefully get that puck into the net."

NEW YORK -- After Ben Bishop allowed five goals in two straight games of the Eastern Conference Final, Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper was asked if he would change his goalie.

Cooper said it was asinine and preposterous to consider benching the starter who led the Lightning all season and into the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Cooper was right.

Bishop made 26 saves in a 2-0, Game 5 win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sunday that moved the Lightning within one win of the Stanley Cup Final.

Tampa Bay leads the best-of-7 series 3-2 and can win the conference in Game 6 at Amalie Arena on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

"Even though what happened the last few games, I wasn't discouraged," Bishop said. "There was nothing drastically wrong. Just wanted to come out and play the same way."

TAMPA -- Keith Yandle said the New York Rangers are scoring goals on the power play because they're keeping it simple. Dan Boyle said the only difference is the puck is going into the net now, when earlier in the Stanley Cup Playoffs it wasn't.

With all due respect, the Rangers defensemen are being too vague and far too humble in describing a power play that has needed five shots to score four goals in the past two games and has connected twice in each of the past three games in the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Rangers were 6-for-38 on the power play in the first two rounds; they're 6-for-15 against the Lightning, including 2-for-4 in a 5-1 win in Game 4 on Friday at Amalie Arena, and 6-for-13 in the past three games.

The best-of-7 series is tied at 2-2 with Game 5 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

"We're making plays," said right wing Martin St. Louis, who broke out of his 18-game scoring drought with a power-play goal in Game 4. "Special teams are always big at this time of the year and it's nice to get our power play rolling."