Lightning beat Islanders to earn spot in Stanley Cup final

Another potential clinching game, another overtime. The Lightning once again needed extra hockey to finish a series, but they got past the Islanders and are moving on to the Stanley Cup final.They have played six extra periods in the four potentially-clinching games alone and are the first team to advance on overtime wins in each of the first three rounds.“My fingernails are gone,” forward Pat Maroon deadpanned after Thursday’s 2-1 win in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final in Edmonton.He must have meant his metaphorical fingernails, since hockey players wear thick gloves, but fans watching at home aren’t the only ones feeling the nerves in these long games. There’s only more anxiety coming when the Stanley Cup final starts on Saturday (7:30 p.m., NBC)“You definitely have some nerves,” defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. “I mean, this is conference finals. It should feel a little nervous. You put forth so much effort and you want to do your part for our team.”After losing Game 5 in double overtime on Tuesday — the first time the Lightning lost a game in which they could finish a series — Tampa Bay really wanted this one. No one wanted a Game 7.Coach Jon Cooper paused after being asked about winning three clinching games in overtime. “I didn’t even think about that, wow.”The Lightning have played a total of 13 overtime periods over six games. The Islanders were the only other team to play as many games, but without a five-overtime thriller, they only played eight total periods.“It just goes to show you what kind of team we have,” Maroon said. “Throughout the playoffs, we’ve had some momentum change. I think the power play tonight, obviously, didn’t give us momentum but we responded five-on-five and that’s a good sign for this group moving forward. We did that through all the overtime games.”Cooper said it’s a matter of fighting through — “because it all doesn’t go according to script” — and sticking to the process.Anthony Cirelli is the third player to score an overtime goal to send the Lightning to the next round.Point and Cirelli sat together in the dressing room after the game, talking about Cirelli one-upping Point with the bigger overtime goal.Point has been the hero these playoffs. He’s been the team’s most dynamic player and led in scoring even when missing two games, until Nikita Kucherov got an assist to pass him. Point scored the overtime game-winner to beat Columbus in the first round (and the overtime goal in Game 1 of the same series).Victor Hedman has made a splash scoring — his nine goals, including the Lightning’s only one in regulation, are more than any defenseman since the Rangers' Brian Leetch in 1994. He scored the overtime game-winner against Boston in the conference semifinals.In between, Ondrej Palat scored an overtime goal in Game 2 against the Bruins.“It’s just a testament to playoff hockey,” defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. “When you start a series, you look at it and four wins seems like a lot — and it is — and then once you have three wins and you need that final push through, you know that your opponent’s playing their best hockey.”It’s been a lot of overtimes. After winning early and waiting for the Islanders to finish a seven-game series last time out, it’s the Lightning who played longer this time.The Stars have been waiting three days while the Lightning played nine more periods.“If you were going to tell me, ‘Hey, Coop, you’re going to get to play in the Stanley Cup final. You’re only going to get 45 hours of rest before the game, but you’re going to get to play in it,'” Cooper said, “I’ll take that all day.” Contact Diana C. Nearhos at dnearhos@tampabay.com . Follow @dianacnearhos on Twitter.

Lightning beat Islanders to earn spot in Stanley Cup final

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