The Lightning played hard in this game, but at times they didn’t play smart. They took some avoidable penalties—including one in the opening minutes that put them into an early deficit—and committed some costly turnovers/mistakes. They also happened to be on the receiving end of some bad breaks. In the end, it was too much to overcome, and they saw their four-game home winning streak come to an end.
Three times in the first period, the Rangers grabbed a two-goal lead. Three times, the Lightning whittled the deficit to one goal. The first Tampa Bay tally was a memorable one: Scott Sabourin scored his third career NHL goal (and first since February 2020), and both Curtis Douglas and Jack Finley picked up their first career points with assists on the tally. A hardworking forechecking shift for Oliver Bjorkstand, Yanni Gourde, and Zemgus Girgensons yielded a rebound goal for Girgensons. And late in the frame, Jake Guentzel finished a shorthanded breakaway, giving the Lightning their first shorthanded tally of the season.
Of the four New York first-period goals, three included fortunate breaks. An Adam Fox power-play shot from the high slot went wide of the net, but it caromed off the end boards directly to Will Cuylle at the top of the crease. Cuylle finished from point-blank range. A Lightning neutral-zone turnover fueled the counter-attack on the second goal, but the Rangers also got a bounce. Mika Zibanejad’s centering feed hit off J.T. Miller’s skate and ricocheted into the net. Following Alexis Lafreniere’s goal off an odd-man rush, Will Borgen finished the first-period scoring when his shot from the high slot deflected off a Lightning stick and caromed over Andrei Vasilevskiy’s glove.
The Lightning dictated play for most of the second period, but they couldn’t find the tying goal. It stayed a 4-3 game until the late stages of the second, when the Rangers caught another break. While defending a rush chance, Vasilevskiy fell to the ice and was not set for Vincent Trocheck’s shot. The goal was a big one for the Rangers, who carried the momentum from that tally into the third period.
The Rangers held that momentum in the early minutes of the third, creating several dangerous looks. Eventually, Trocheck finished a chance from the slot, extending the New York lead to 6-3. The Lightning amassed lots of shot attempts in the closing minutes when they received a power play and pulled the goalie, but most of those attempts were either blocked or missed the net. The Rangers concluded the scoring with an empty-netter.
The Lightning were without several regulars for this game. Now they get a couple of days to (hopefully) heal up before beginning a weekend back-to-back on Saturday in Sunrise against the Panthers.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Artemi Panarin — Rangers. Four assists.
- Vincent Trocheck — Rangers. Two goals.
- Jake Guentzel — Lightning. SHG.
