Bolts Beat Islanders 1-0 To Head To Stanley Cup Finals

TAMPA, FL — There was only one goal, and a shorthanded one at that. But it was enough to earn the Tampa Bay Lightning the 96-year-old Prince of Wales Trophy and a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second straight year.

With assists from Bolts center Anthony Cirelli and defenseman Ryan McDonagh, Yanni Gourde shot the only goal of the game, his fifth goal of the series.

Now the Lightning will face the Montreal Canadiens in the first game of the Stanley Cup Finals Monday night at Amalie Arena in Tampa. The second game will take place Wednesday at Amalie before the Finals head to Montreal.

"We had a great performance, were able to block them out and win," said Gourde, giving high praise to Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy for holding the New York Islanders at bay with 18 saves.

Gourde grew up playing hockey in Quebec.

"It's really exciting for me to play the Canadiens, the team I grew up watching," he said.

Although he didn't spend much time on the ice (16 minutes total) star winger Nikita Kucherov was the fan favorite at Amalie Arena following speculation that he wouldn't be able to finish out the series due to an injury in Wednesday's game.

The crowd cheered as Kucherov skated onto the ice as part of the starting lineup despite having to leave Wednesday's game early when he took a cross-check from the Islanders' Scott Mayfield that caused him to double over in pain and promptly exit the ice and head to the Lightning locker room.

In an interview after the game, Vasilevskiy said having Kucherov in the game made all the difference in the team's morale and determination to win.

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