The Tampa Bay Lightning play the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals which begin on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. These two teams like to play fast so this could be an excellent series for fantasy hockey matchups. Let’s look at the series and some of the players who should excel.
Old Friends
A number of players will be going against their former team led by Ryan Callahan and Martin St. Louis. They were traded last year so it will be an interesting matchup when those two go up against each other. Tampa’s Brian Boyle and Anton Stralman also will be facing their former team as each played for the Rangers.
Top Lightning Fantasy Picks
Tyler Johnson leads Tampa Bay with eight goals and 12 points in the playoffs. He is part of the “Triplets” line with Nikita Kucherov who has six goals and 11 points and Ondrej Palat who has 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points. Steven Stamkos has 3 goals and 7 assists for 10 points on the top line. The top defensemen in scoring for Tampa in the playoffs are Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman who have 6 and 5 points respectively. Goaltender Ben Bishop has played well in the playoffs and he will be a cheaper option in goal than Henrik Lundqvist.
Top Rangers Fantasy Picks
The Rangers didn’t do a lot of scoring in the series against Washington as goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stole the show. He now has a .944 save percentage and 1.60 goals-against average in the playoffs. The top scorers for the Rangers have been Derick Brassard and Derek Stepan who have 8 points each. Rick Nash has been a disappointment with just 7 points. The top two defensemen are Ryan McDonagh and Dan Boyle who have 6 and 4 points respectively.
Series Notes
This will be the first trip for the Lightning to the Eastern Conference Finals since 2011 when they were beaten by Boston in seven games. It is Tampa’s third appearance overall as they also played in 2004 and in 2011. “It’s exciting,” Stamkos said Tuesday. “I’ve always talked about 2011 was the most fun I’ve ever had playing this game, Obviously, I want a little better result this time. But this group has been resilient all year.” The teams have never met in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The teams played three times during the regular season with the Lightning winning all three games. They won 5-1 in New York back in November as Ryan Callahan had two goals while Stamkos had a goal and an assist. The Lightning won 4-3 at home later that month as Callahan had two goals and an assist. Stamkos and Kucherov also scored. Tampa won 6-3 in New York in early December as Brett Connolly who is now with Boston had two goals. Brassard and Stepan had three assists each for The Rangers in the season series against the Lightning.
