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It took a little bit, but it looks like the Tampa Bay Lightning have finally arrived at the 2022 Eastern Conference Final.

Despite needing to climb back from a 2-0 deficit, the Bolts were the better team in their Game 3 victory. Tampa outshot the Rangers, 51-30, held a 14-5 edge in high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five. If not for Igor Shesterkin’s nightly heroics, the Lightning likely would have won going away.

The Rangers held a couple of advantages in the early part of the series. Not only were the Blueshirts playing at home for Games 1 and 2, but the Lightning were coming off a long layoff, which seemed to throw them off their rhythm after a four-game sweep of the Panthers. That was especially true of goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who looked out of sorts for the first five periods of the series, but now seems to be trending back to his normal, exceptional level.

Part of the credit for Vasilevskiy’s strong showing in Game 3 should go to Tampa’s team defense, as the Bolts held the Rangers to just 1.51 expected goals on 20 shots at five-on-five. And with Tampa still holding home-ice advantage for Game 4, we could see a similar effort from the Bolts in their own end as Jon Cooper continues to look to match up Anthony Cirelli, Ryan McDonagh, and Erik Cernak against the Mika Zibanejad line as much as possible.

With Shesterkin playing at an MVP level, Vasilevskiy trending up with plenty of room to go until he hits his ceiling, and Tampa’s defense looking stronger, this series is heading towards another Under.

The Play: Under 5.5 (-135) — BetMGM