Allen: When it comes to Game 7, Rangers can't be beat

If Game 7s are coin flips, as the NHL community believes them to be, then the New York Rangers are in possession of a two-headed coin.

That would be the only logical explanation for why the Rangers are 7-0 all time in Game 7 NHL playoff games played at Madison Square Garden. MSG's next Game 7 is scheduled for Friday when Rangers face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning (8 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network)

In recent years, the Rangers' Game 7 success is more easily identified as starting with the presence of Henrik Lundqvist in New York's net.

Lundqvist might own the best playoff reputation of any goalie who has never won a Stanley Cup. Reggie Jackson was New York's Mr. October, and Lundqvist is New York's Mr. April and May. He's 4-0 in Game 7s at home and 15-3 in games since 2012 in which the Rangers have faced elimination.

In those games, Lundqvist owns a 1.47 goals-against average and .954 save percentage.

"When we need him to close the door, he does that," Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said. "There have been a lot of games where it's one shot or one chance that can be a difference in a game, and he comes up big in those moments."

But it's not Lundqvist carrying the load by himself. Over the past four seasons, the Rangers have been piling up wins at a .625 percentage in the regular season.

In Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh and Staal, the Rangers boast three defensemen who do almost as much to keep the puck out of the New York net as Lundqvist does.

Say what you will about former Rangers coach John Tortorella's gruff style, but he helped transform Girardi, McDonagh and Staal into monstrous defensive forces. Their continued success is part of Tortorella's legacy in New York.

Also, MSG has a history of being a chamber of horrors for opposing teams. It's loud. It's obnoxious. "It's just a hostile environment," Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman said.

Finally, let's not forget that the Rangers are one win away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive season. Counting last season and this season, they are 9-1 in elimination games. The 1975-76 New York Islanders are the only other NHL team to win nine elimination games over two consecutive seasons.

You don't tug on Superman's cape. You don't spit into the wind. You don't pull the mask off the Lone Ranger. And you don't face the Rangers in a Game 7 at Madison Square Garden.

It would seem as if the Rangers have the Lightning right where they want them going into the final game of the Eastern Conference final.

But statistics can cut both ways. The Lightning have won four of five games at MSG this season, and two of those have come in the postseason.

"We feel confident in our game and comfortable playing there," Hedman said. "So we just have to shut everything out."

Plus, the Lightning won a Game 7 against the Detroit Red Wings in the first round when their goalie, Ben Bishop, posted a shutout. The Lightning had to win Game 6 on the road to get to Game 7.

Last Sunday, the Lightning played an air-tight defensive game — a near-perfect road game — at MSG to take a 3-2 lead in this series.

"We've also shown in the short history our team has been together that we've been able to bounce back," Lightning winger Alex Killorn said.

Killorn prefers an optimistic mentality about the Rangers' 7-0 Game 7 record at MSG.

"I guess," Killorn said, "that means they're due to lose one, right?"

GALLERY: Best of the conference finals