3 Keys: Rangers at Lightning, Game 6 of Eastern Conference Final

Rangers (2M) at Lightning (3A)
8 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS
Tampa Bay leads best-of-7 series 3-2

The Tampa Bay Lightning can advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the third consecutive season with a victory against the New York Rangers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amalie Arena on Saturday.
Tampa Bay has won three straight games after losing the first two games of the series at New York.
The Lightning would be the first team to reach the Stanley Cup Final in three straight seasons since the Edmonton Oilers from 1983-85. Tampa Bay is bidding to become the first team to win the Stanley Cup in three consecutive seasons since the New York Islanders won four straight championships from 1980-83.
The Colorado Avalanche await in the Cup Final after sweeping the Oilers in four games in the Western Conference Final, but the Lightning said they are not thinking about that yet.
"It's just focus on the opportunity at hand, the opportunity that we've earned," Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "We've used that mentality in the past. You can't let these opportunities slide and your tomorrows are running out even at this position. So you want to continue to play. You've got to find a way to close them out one more time here."
RELATED: [Complete Rangers vs. Lightning series coverage]
The Lightning are 3-1 when they have a chance to eliminate an opponent in Game 6 of a series since the start of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But the Rangers are 5-0 when facing elimination in the playoffs this season after rallying from down 3-1 in the first round against the Pittsburgh Penguins and overcoming a 3-2 deficit against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round.
New York will rely on that experience Saturday.
"The series started out great for us. Now we've lost three in a row and we've got to battle back," Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. "We've been in this position five times (previously), so I'm hoping we get the same result tonight. It's going to be a battle and we're going to have to compete hard, but we'll hope for the same result tonight."
Here are 3 keys to Game 6:

1. Play with urgency and patience

The Rangers haven't had a problem playing with urgency in the playoffs when facing elimination, as evidenced by their perfect record. But patience is also important when facing the Lightning.
Tampa Bay has become masterful at staying within its defensive structure and waiting for its opponent to make a mistake before using its skill to pounce, as it did to score late winning goals in Game 3 (Ondrej Palat with 42 seconds left in a 3-2 victory) and Game 5 (Palat with 1:50 remaining in a 3-1 victory).
The Lightning also want to play with urgency to close the Rangers out and not let them push the series to Game 7 at New York on Tuesday.
"Our mindset has just got to be the same as the last three games," Lightning forward Patrick Maroon said. "Go out there and try to win a hockey game, for one, but doing it the right way, playing hard and focus on what we can control. We've done a good job so far of the little emotions, the highs and lows that we've been going through this series. So just put our best foot forward because it's going to be the hardest one."

2. Force Vasilevskiy to work harder

After scoring nine goals against Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy while winning the first two games of the series, the Rangers have scored four goals in losing the past three, including one at even strength. New York's 25 shots on goal in Game 5 were its fewest in the series.
The Lightning have had more success against Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin with traffic in front for screens and deflections. Tampa Bay scored two goals that way in Game 5. New York needs to do more of that against Vasilevskiy, who is 3-0 with a 0.33 goals-against average, .990 save percentage and two shutouts in his past three potential series-clinching games.
"We've got to create a little bit more in front of their net, get a few more pucks and bodies to the front," Rangers forward Andrew Copp said. "You see the way the pucks are going in right now. It's screened shots and it's hitting in off shinpads and whatnot, so we've got to create those greasy opportunities for us."
Although Vasilevskiy's 12-9 record for his career in potential series-clinching games doesn't stand out, his 1.65 GAA, .942 save percentage and NHL record six shutouts in those games do. In his past seven series-clinching wins, Vasilevskiy has allowed one goal. That came in a 2-1 victory in Game 1 of the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs this season.

3. Zibanejad's line vs. Cirelli's line

The Lightning putting together a line of Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn to play against the Rangers top line of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Frank Vatrano in Game 3 was one of the factors that helped turned the series for them. Kreider, Vatrano and Zibanejad have not scored a 5-on-5 goal since.
New York was able to get away from that matchup with the last change on home ice in Game 5, but Kreider, Zibanejad and Vatrano had another quiet game. Back on the road with Tampa Bay able to dictate the matchups in Game 6, the line will undoubtedly see a lot of Cirelli's line again and will need to play through that matchup and produce.

Rangers projected lineup

Chris Kreider -- Mika Zibanejad -- Frank Vatrano
Artemi Panarin -- Ryan Strome -- Andrew Copp
Alexis Lafreniere
-- Filip Chytil -- Kaapo Kakko
Tyler Motte -- Kevin Rooney -- Barclay Goodrow
Ryan Lindgren -- Adam Fox
K'Andre Miller -- Jacob Trouba
Justin Braun -- Braden Schneider
Igor Shesterkin
Alexandar Georgiev
Scratched:Ryan Reaves, Patrik Nemeth, Libor Hajek, Greg McKegg, Julien Gauthier, Jonny Brodzinski, Dryden Hunt
Injured:Sammy Blais (knee)

Lightning projected lineup

Ondrej Palat -- Steven Stamkos -- Nikita Kucherov
Brandon Hagel -- Anthony Cirelli -- Alex Killorn
Ross Colton -- Nicholas Paul -- Corey Perry
Pat Maroon -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Riley Nash
Victor Hedman -- Jan Rutta
Ryan McDonagh -- Erik Cernak
Mikhail Sergachev -- Zach Bogosian
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Brian Elliott
Scratched:Cal Foote
Injured:Brayden Point (lower body)

Status report

Point, a forward, took part in the morning skate and will be a game-time decision if he takes part in pregame warmups, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. … Gallant hinted at possible lineup changes, but would not be specific.