NEW YORK — As Game 7s go, the Lightning's 2-0 win over the Rangers on Friday night was not the most exhilarating.
In a game played cautiously by both teams, the Eastern Conference title was decided by a dribbling goal from Alex Killorn that squeezed through Henrik Lundqvist's legs 1:54 into the third period. When the Rangers had a flurry of activity just past the midway point of the final period, goalie Ben Bishop sprung Tyler Johnson on a counterattack and Ondrej Palat finished off the 3-on-2 to deliver the final score.
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Bishop's save on a Jesper Fast drive with 6:50 left was pretty much the death knell for the Rangers, the best team in the NHL during the regular season. The Lightning calmly and quietly came to Madison Square Garden and ended Lundqvist's run of six consecutive wins in Game 7s.
Calm and quiet are two words that fit Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. The two-time Rocket Richard Trophy winner will talk, eloquently and at length, but flamboyance is not his thing.
Stamkos came to the Lightning as the top pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, when he was 18, led the league with 51 goals as a 19-year-old, scored a career-high 60 times two years later, and had 43 this season for his fourth time cracking 40.
Stamkos is a known quantity even to most casual hockey fans. But by reaching the Stanley Cup Final, where the Lightning will meet the winner of Saturday's Game 7 between the Blackhawks and Ducks, his exposure will turn from highlights of his goals to full games.
"He's been so great to play with as a player, as a teammate, as a person," said Lightning center Brian Boyle, who makes his second consecutive appearance in the Final after having left the Rangers as a free agent last summer. "Coming from New York, you're on TV, on national TV, quite a bit. It's a little bit different in Tampa. We're trying to grow the game, and he takes a lot of pride in that, in the community, trying to grow the game down there. He does everything right off the ice, for the team and for the city. For him to play as well as he has, it's no surprise. He deserves it."
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In the past five years, the NHL had dream Final matchups for TV, with huge markets involved: Chicago-Philadelphia, Boston-Vancouver, Los Angeles-New Jersey, Boston-Chicago, Los Angeles-New York. That changes with Tampa Bay in the Final for the first time since winning the Stanley Cup in 2004. The draw, even with as well as the Triplets line of Johnson, Palat and Nikita Kucherov played throughout the playoffs, is Stamkos.
Stamkos did not have a shot on goal in 17:43 of ice time in Game 7, but that hardly meant he was ineffective. His plus-4 Corsi differential was third-best on the Lightning in the game behind Jason Garrison and Valtteri Filppula, and all three of Stamkos' shot attempts were legitimate scoring chances — one was blocked, he missed the net on the other two. Any time he is on the ice, he demands attention, and even after a struggle to get on the scoresheet in the first round, Stamkos has 17 points in 20 playoff games.
Stamkos had 13 points in 18 games in the 2011 playoffs, when the Lightning lost to the Bruins in Game 7. The difference now is that the Triplets are here, and so are the former Rangers, Boyle, Ryan Callahan and Anton Stralman, who combined for 48 goals this season. There's also the matter of Bishop being a huge upgrade over a 41-year-old Dwayne Roloson.
"This is the best team I've played on, by far," Stamkos said. "I don't think it's a surprise to us, in here, that we've gotten this far. We knew there was gonna be some ups and downs, and it's been our ability to respond to the downs, I think, that's pushed this team to the top. We've played some great games, followed them up with some iffy ones, and then we go out and know what we have to do. Tonight was a great example of that. … A Cup, that's my goal. It's so tough to win in this league."
It also is tough to seize the spotlight on a team outside a major market that does not make the Final. Stamkos gets it now, and deserves it.
"It starts with that guy over there," said defenseman Victor Hedman, motioning at the man he followed as the Lightning's first-round pick. "He's the leader on this team. He leads by example on and off the ice. … It's real exciting, and I'm looking forward to the Stanley Cup Final."
Even with a smaller market involved, the NHL should be, too.