Lightning Force Game Seven

Game Six of the Bruins and Lightning series was everything that the rest of the series has been, a very exciting ride from the drop of the puck to the sound of the horn.

The Lightning got that fast start they were looking for, drawing first blood within the first minute of play, getting the sell-out crowd all jacked up on the hope of more hockey.

The Bruins were up to the task, however, drawing even and even getting a lead of their own before the end of the 1st period.  With the flow of the game working like the flow of the series, even after one period, there was still plenty of optimism that the Lightning were going to draw themselves back.

Penalties stung the Bruins badly in the 2nd period, as a couple of calls came back to haunt them on the scoresheet, as the Lightning picked up a 3-2 lead through the middle frame, a power play goal from each unit  on the team.

In the 3rd period, the Lightning took an early 2-goal lead on yet another power play goal from Steven Stamkos, but that wasn't going to be quite enough, as the teams began to trade goals in the middle of the period, making the roller coaster ride all that much more exciting.  David Krejci cut the lead down to one on a power play goal of his own, midway through the period, which was quickly answered by Martin St. Louis only 29 seconds later.  Krejci completed his hat-trick moments later, but that's all the Lightning would give the Bruins, as the game ended 5-4 for the home side, sending this series to an all-deciding Game Seven.

There were plenty of points to be taken from this game and if you had the right six players, you may have come away like a bandit in the standings.  Martin St. Louis led all Lightning players with 2 goals, inlcuding the winner, and an assist for a 4-point night.  Steven Stamkos had a 3-point night, while Teddy Purcell, Steve Downie, Vincent Lecavalier and Dwayne Roloson each had 2 points in the win.

On the Boston side, David Krejci had a 3-point night, all goals, followed closely by Tomas Kaberle, Milan Lucic and Nathan Horton, all having 2 points in the game.

Overall Standings
This being the impact series of the Conference Finals, this was the game where we would see quite a bit of movement.  Tryst'n'Grant extended their lead by a point, taking a 2-point cushion into Game Seven of this series over the Langdon River Dogs, while All She Wrote started closing in a little bit more, knocking the gap between 2nd and 3rd down to 13 points from 16 at the start of the night.  For a few moments in the game Superstar fell out of the money, but they were saved by a good night from St. Louis, narrowly holding onto 4th place, while Pucking Luck has some company in 5th spot, as Kalenab jumped from 9th to 6th, losing a tie-breaker for 5th in the goals department.

A new team jumped into the top 10 after Game Six, as Jack_Bit_Gary took a tie-breaker into 10th spot, ahead of Madness? This is MARTA! and the Thieves of the Cheechoo Express.  All three teams are in at 246 points, but tie-breaks are important.

Game Seven will go on Friday night and this will have a massive impact on the pool standings, with some pretty big players on either side of the ledger being eliminated.  The money will be decided on whoever gets through to the Cup Finals on Friday night and you should be able to determine who will finish higher by the quality of players that each pool team takes through.  If the Lightning make it through, there will be a lot of disappointed teams in this pool, because there is a lot of stock in Boston making it this year.

The Game Seven preview will drop tomorrow morning.