In Tampa, the Lightning punched their ticket to the 2021 Stanley Cup Final where they will meet the Montreal Canadiens, beginning Monday in Tampa. 
One goal separated the Lightning from the New York Islanders in Game 7 on Friday night.
“We’ve come such a long way; I’ve been with this group for a while,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. ” … It’s so [darn] hard to win in this League, but last year, I just found we could win in different ways, but in the end, just the warrior mentality this group had, and it was prevalent tonight. After a really tough loss the other night (in Game 6), you just can’t count them out. They’ve just learned how to defend, and again another masterful performance in the defensive zone to win a huge Game 7 for us.”
Tampa’s Yanni Gourde scored a shorthanded goal with a wrist shot from the high slot in the second period.
That was it.
“It [stinks] getting back to this point and coming up short again,” New York’s Mathew Barzal said. “We’ve got guys like [Josh Bailey] and [Andy Greene], veteran guys. Being a young guy, I’ve got a few more years, but those guys, it’s more for those guys. It hurts seeing those guys in the locker room afterwards, just how close we were.”
It was the only power play of the game.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves to secure the series clinching win.
“The last game, we tried to defend in Game 6, and this game we attacked the whole way, the whole game,” Vasilevskiy said. “That was just a textbook Game 7.”
The Lightning will defend their 2020 Stanley Cup against a Montreal franchise that has not been to the Final since 1993.
“In the end, you need the goalie to make the stops at times when everything else breaks down, and ‘Vasy’ is showing time and time again that he can do that,” Cooper said. “To elevate your game and have the fortitude to grind through series-clinching, potential season-ending games and rise to the occasion … we’re throwing around the world special, ‘Vasy’s special.”
Brayden Point‘s nine-game goal streak was ended.
The Isles had few shooting lanes throughout the game, and Tampa blocked 21 shots.
“They did a really good job,” Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said. “I think we attempted 50 shots tonight, somewhere in that range, and they had 21 blocks. We had some guys teeing them up and they were blocking them. They were committed and all that. They’re a good defensive team.
“They’ve got a good core, they’ve got an outstanding goaltender. They’ve got a defenseman who is a Norris Trophy candidate every year (Victor Hedman), an underrated guy in McDonagh, who is a shutdown guy, and they’ve got Sergachev. They’re a better team than they were last year, in my mind.”
Nikita Kucherov did play in Game 7 despite leaving Game 6 Wednesday night with an apparent injury.
“There was no question if I’m going to play or not,” Kucherov said. “I felt good. To [win] a Game 7, you’ve got to sacrifice yourself and play in those moments and share it with the boys. I felt good today.”
Semyon Varlamov made 30 saves in the loss.
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