Stamkos dazzles as Lightning book 3rd consecutive trip to Stanley Cup final with win over Rangers

The Tampa Bay Lightning's bid for a three-peat is alive and well.

With captain Steven Stamkos leading the way, the two-time defending champions beat the New York Rangers 2-1 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final Saturday night, securing a berth in the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year.

"It's going to be tough to get out of the moment and look back and realize what a special group we have here because there's still some games to be played," Stamkos said. "You're still not at the end of our goal, but in saying that this group is pretty amazing and pretty special."

Game 1 is Wednesday night in Denver.

"It's probably not the greatest word to use, but I'm damn impressed by this group," coach Jon Cooper said.

"It's impressive what they've done. ... I'm just utterly impressed by what they do to win a hockey game," the coach added. "And the fact that they they have every excuse in the world to not win because nobody would fault them by saying hey, you won one, you won two, and to come back and and go for a third. I'm impressed."

So the <a href="https://twitter.com/NYRangers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NYRangers</a> tied it... and then the <a href="https://twitter.com/TBLightning?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TBLightning</a> took the lead back 21 seconds later...