Stanley Cup Notebook: Lightning Flash By Wings Into Second Round

Ben Bishop stopped all 31 shots he faced and Braydon Coburn broke a scoreless deadlock at 3:58 of the third period to lift the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Detroit Red Wings and into the Eastern Conference Second Round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.


* The Lightning improved to 4-1 all-time in Game 7s, including a 3-0 mark at home. They also earned a shutout in their last such victory on April 27, 2011, when Dwayne Roloson made 36 saves and Sean Bergenheim scored the lone goal in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at the Pittsburgh Penguins.

* Bishop, who also earned an assist in the game, finished his debut playoff series with a 1.87 goals-against average, .922 save percentage and one shutout. Via Elias, Bishop is the first goaltender to post his first career postseason shutout in Game 7 since Ilya Bryzgalov (May 3, 2006, at the Calgary Flames while playing for the Anaheim Ducks).

* Elias adds that Bishop is the first goaltender to earn four wins – including Game 7 – in his debut playoff series since Washington's Braden Holtby in the 2012 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. the Boston Bruins. The last goaltender to clinch his first playoff series with a shutout in Game 7 was Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens (April 21, 2008: 25 SV, 5-0 W vs. Boston Bruins).

* Coburn, who was acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers on March 2, scored his first goal in a Lightning uniform (11 GP – regular season and playoffs) and first goal overall since Nov. 22 vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets while with Philadelphia.

* Via Elias, Coburn is the first player to score his first goal with a team (regular season and playoffs) in Game 7 since May 13, 2013 (Matt Bartkowski for Boston vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs). The last time a player had that goal count as the game-winner was May 18, 1995, when Norm Maciver scored the series-clinching goal for the Penguins in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. the Washington Capitals (3-0 W).

* Coburn also scored in Game 7 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. the Buffalo Sabres while with the Flyers; his only other postseason goal was on May 16, 2010, also with Philadelphia. He has 3-21—24 in 79 career postseason games, including 2 game-winning goals (4 GWG in 618 regular-season games).

* Anton Stralman scored into the empty net for his first playoff goal since May 7, 2012, vs. Washington while with the New York Rangers. Stralman, who signed as a free agent with the Lightning on July 1, 2014, improved to 6-0 in career Game 7s; Brian Boyle (5-0) and Matt Carle (4-0) also maintained their unblemished records.

* This was the first of Tampa Bay's five Game 7 appearances that was decided by more than one goal; however, Stralman's tally was scored into an empty with 1:18 left in regulation.

* The Lightning will face the Montreal Canadiens in the Second Round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This marks the third postseason meeting between these teams; each club advanced with a four-game sweep – Tampa Bay in the 2004 Eastern Conference Semifinals and Montreal in the 2014 Eastern Conference First Round.

2015 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS BRACKET CHALLENGE

Among the more than 800,000 entries for the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs Bracket Challenge powered by Samsung, 73% picked the Lightning to win their series against the Red Wings – just 12.5% selected them to win in seven games.

GAME 7 TRENDS

* Wednesday's contest marked the second Game 7 of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs and the 35th since the start of the 2009 postseason (98 total series) – the most frequently occurring series length in that span (7 Games: 35; 6 Games: 30; 5 Games: 20; 4 Games: 13).

* Home teams improved to 93-65 (.589) all-time in Game 7s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, including a 2-0 mark this year, Washington defeated the New York Islanders 2-1 on Monday.

* The club that scores first in a Game 7 improved to 117-41 (.741) all-time, including 2-0 this year.

SECOND-ROUND SCHEDULE

The NHL confirmed the schedule for the Second Round of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which begins Thursday with Game 1 of the Capitals-Rangers and Flames-Ducks series.

Click here for complete details.

NHL ANNOUNCES HART FINALISTS

Forward Alex Ovechkin of the Capitals, goaltender Carey Price of the Canadiens and forward John Tavares of the Islanders are the three finalists for the 2014-15 Hart Memorial Trophy, which is awarded "to the player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team," the National Hockey League announced today.

Members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association submitted ballots for the Hart Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters designated as finalists. The winner will be announced Wednesday, June 24, during the 2015 NHL Awards from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Click here for more information on each finalist.

* ICYMI: The NHL will reveal the three finalists for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy prior to the games on Thursday.

LOOSE PUCKS

ICYMI: Drew Miller narrowly missed an open net when Ben Bishop made a diving poke check in the second period. . . . Lightning coach Jon Cooper won in his first Game 7 appearance. . . . Three of Tampa Bay's five all-time Game 7s have been shutouts. The Lightning won 1-0 at Pittsburgh in the 2011 EQF and lost 1-0 L at Boston in the 2011 EF. . . . Detroit goaltender Petr Mrazek made 15 saves to finish his first playoff series with a 3-4 record, 2.11 goals-against average, .925 save percentage and 2 SO. . . . The Lightning outscored the Red Wings 8-7 in the third period during the series. They scored 99 goals in the third period during the regular season, tying Calgary for the League lead.