Defenseman Braydon Coburn‘s third period goal propelled the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Detroit Red Wings and on to the Eastern Conference semifinals tonight at Amalie Arena in Game 7 of the quarterfinals. Bolts’ goalie Ben Bishop was brilliant in the cage, stopping all 31 Red Wings shots to earn his first career playoff shutout 2-0.
Tampa Bay moves to the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Montreal Canadiens. Game 1 is Friday at 7 p.m. at Bell Centre.
Game 7 veteran Ryan Callahan found a wide-open Coburn with a perfect pass and Coburn one-timed it over Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek‘s right shoulder. Both players were playing in their fifth career Game 7 and it was Coburn’s second Game 7 goal.
The goal came on the Bolts 14th shot of the game and only their seventh five-on-five shot of the night.
The Red Wings totally dominated the first two periods, but Big Ben Bishop stood tall, stopping 23 Detroit shots.
Anton Stralman scored a 180 foot, bank shot, empty net goal at 18:42 to send Bolts’ fans home happy.
Detroit outshot Tampa Bay 31-17, only the second time in the series the Red Wings had more shots.
Tampa Bay moves to 4-1 overall in Game sevens.
The Lightning will face the Canadiens in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Friday night in Montreal. Tampa Bay won all five games against Montreal in the regular season by a combined score of 21-8.
The complete Second Round schedule is as follows:
Game Day Location Time
1 Friday, May 1 Bell Centre 7 p.m.
2 Sunday, May 3 Bell Centre 6 p.m.
3 Wednesday, May 6 Amalie Arena 7 p.m.
4 Thursday, May 7 Amalie Arena 7 p.m.
5 Saturday, May 9 Bell Centre TBD *If necessary
6 Tuesday, May 12 Amalie Arena TBD *If necessary
7 Thursday, May 14 Bell Centre TBD *If necessary
Bolt Quotes
“Bish took command of the game.”- Coach Jon Cooper
“I think the fact that Stammer hasn’t scored and we won the series probably bodes well.” – Coach Jon Cooper
“When that goal went in, I looked up and I said, ‘Oh wow, what a hell of a trade.’ – Coach Jon Cooper
“I thought Anton Stralman arguably was the best player on the ice tonight. He just took command of both ends.” – Coach Jon Cooper
“It was unbelievable. It’s such a great feeling. Playoffs are such a special time. There’s a lot of energy.” – Braydon Coburn on the Amalie Arena crowd.
“As a goalie you just try to keep your team in it as long as you can, and they came alive there in the 3rd.” – Ben Bishop
“They went to church. We must have missed Mass.” – Red Wings coach Mike Babcock
Jonathan Drouin (healthy), J.T. Brown (healthy) and Mark Barberio (healthy) were the scratches.
(Feature Photo/Getty Images)
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