Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper calls them guys who have a little bit of dirt under their fingernails. And that tough trio of late-season acquisitions is part of the reason the Lightning are back in the Eastern Conference finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the fourth time in six years. Hedman, reigning league MVP Nikita Kucherov, Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy and forwards Ondrej Palat, Brayden Point, Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn and Yanni Gourde are highly skilled players on a talent-laden roster. You need those type of guys who can do that, and we found them,” Cooper added. Offensively, the team has gotten timely scoring up and down the roster, including from Palat, who has five goals in the past four games.

Source: Fox News September 01, 2020 08:15 UTC