Lightning's penalty kill the difference in Game 5

The Tampa Bay Lightning brought themselves to within one win of the Stanley Cup final Sunday, and they can thank their penalty kill for that.

The Lightning killed off all four of the New York Rangers' advantages with the extra man after giving up two power-play goals in each of the last three games, giving themselves a much greater chance of coming out with a 'W'.

"I thought that was the whole key to the game," head coach Jon Cooper told reporters. "To give up two power-play goals in three consecutive games, that's not going to win you anything.

"If you can win the special teams war you give yourself a better chance to win."

Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault echoed Cooper's remarks believing his team's power-play unit was not connecting like it had earlier in the series.

"Our power play had been getting us some momentum, had been getting us some really good looks. But our execution was a little slow tonight," Vigneault told reporters. "Because it was slow, it made it easier for them to defend. We didn't get very many looks on it, and obviously that was a big part of tonight's game."

The Lightning hold the second-best penalty kill of the four remaining playoff teams, working at an 81.2 percent success rate.