The first period belonged to the Lightning, who dominated puck possession and owned an advantage in shots and scoring chances. The Bolts enjoyed several segments in which they spent entire shifts in the offensive zone. Tyler Johnson and J.T. Miller scored goals to give the Lightning a two-goal lead.
But they didn't sustain it beyond the first period. As the second period began, the Rangers raised their compete-level and cleaned up their puck management. At the same time, the Lightning's puck management got sloppier. The result was a mirror-image of the first. The Rangers spent most of the period in possession of the puck (four power play chances in the second helped) and they popped in three goals. Two of them resulted from Lightning rush coverage breakdowns. The third goal, while not officially off the rush, came moments after the Rangers brought the puck into the offensive zone. There were a handful of other New York scoring chances, two of which hit the post.
Dan Girardi's four-on-four goal early in the second helped the Lightning partially offset the New York tallies, so the teams entered the third period tied at three. The Bolts continued to struggle with puck management, which limited their possession time. The big difference between the second and the third, however, was that the Lightning were much tighter defensively without the puck. The Rangers weren't able to generate as many dangerous chances, either off the rush or when they controlled the puck in the offensive zone. The Lightning's penalty kill, which was excellent throughout the game, produced an important kill early in the third. The Rangers ended up going 0-6 on the power play.
Hedman had a glorious chance early in OT, but Alexandar Georgiev denied the shot. But about three minutes later, Hedman got another opportunity from the slot and buried the winner.
After the first period, this one wasn't pretty for the Lightning. But they found a way to bank two more points and set a franchise-record in the process.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Brian Engblom):
1. Victor Hedman - Lightning. GWG and assist.
2. Jimmy Vesey - Rangers. Goal and assist.
3. Anthony Cirelli - Lightning.
