Lightning win Game 5, push Rangers to brink in Eastern Final

NEW YORK -- Ondrej Palat scored the go-ahead goal with 1:50 remaining in the third period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the New York Rangers 3-1 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

The Lightning have won three straight and lead the best-of-7 series 3-2. The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions can advance to the Stanley Cup Final with a win in Game 6 at Tampa on Saturday.
Palat scored when Mikhail Sergachev's wrist shot from the right point deflected off of him.
"We just had a good shift," Palat said. "There was two minutes left and I went in front of the net and it hit my kneecap. … Great shot by 'Sergie'."
Sergachev had a goal and an assist, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves for the Lightning, the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Division.
"It's not like it's a super-crazy play," Sergachev said of the winning goal. "It's just a simple play that we practice all the time. Guys go to the net, D-men shoot the puck. As [Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos] said, 'You keep doing that more and more and you are going to get rewarded.' Guys got rewarded tonight."

Ryan Lindgren scored, and Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves for the Rangers, the No. 2 seed in the Metropolitan Division, who had won a team-record eight straight Stanley Cup Playoff games at home.
"It's tough tonight," New York coach Gerard Gallant said. "It's a tough night, there's no doubt. But tomorrow we'll get on the airplane and we'll be ready to go play a game in Tampa Bay. It'll be a battle. They're a good hockey team. That's why they're the Stanley Cup champs. We're going to have to go in there and play our best game and win a game to give ourselves a chance for Game 7 back here."
Lindgren put the Rangers up 1-0 at 10:29 of the second period when he flung the puck on goal from the left boards near the face-off circle and beat Vasilevskiy to the short side.
"We just couldn't seem to get that next goal," Lindgren said. "We've been in this situation before and it seems like we play our best hockey when our backs are against the wall. We've just got to go to Tampa and win a game. Take it one game at a time. Draw from those past experiences and go play our best hockey."
Sergachev tied it 1-1 at 17:34 with a shot from the point through traffic. He hadn't scored in 39 playoff games dating to Game 5 of the 2020 Cup Final against the Dallas Stars.
"That one went in and it's a good feeling," Sergachev said. "I haven't scored a lot of goals, but it definitely felt great."
RELATED: [Complete Rangers vs. Lightning series coverage]
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said, "It was huge for us and you need that in the playoffs, guys to come through, and Sergie has been playing great hockey and I'm glad he got on the score sheet. Two great shots like 'Pally' said. Perfect wristers in the perfect spot. … Two great shots and overall a great game."
Brandon Hagel scored an empty-net goal with 59 seconds remaining for the 3-1 final.
It was the third straight game Palat scored, and second time in three games he had the game-winner in the final minutes. He scored with 42 seconds remaining in a 3-2 win in Game 3 and has four goals in the series.
"'Pally' has been a guy that, like I've talked about and we've all talked about, is just the warrior mentality out there," Stamkos said. "He's willing to do anything and he gets rewarded because he plays the game the right way. Whether it's hockey gods or karma or whatever it is, you do the right things, things are bound to happen."
Tampa Bay has allowed four goals in the past three games after allowing nine in the first two.
"We didn't like our first two games for sure," Stamkos said. "Very uncharacteristic plays and just sloppy hockey. … We always talked about you give up one or two, you should be able to win those games. We found a recipe here."

New York is 5-0 when facing elimination in these playoffs.
"We've been down 3-2 every series so far," Rangers forward Andrew Copp said. "We're going to have to have a level of desperation. I think the confidence of doing it before is bigger and better than having to do it again. I think there's belief in the room. Played a pretty solid hockey game. … We're playing pretty good and it's a really, really tight series so we just have to make that extra play at the end of the game to be the difference."
The team that wins Game 5 when a best-of-7 series is tied is 223-61 (78.5 percent) winning the series, including 4-3 in the 2022 playoffs.
"Now we go up 3-2 (in the series), it's not a time to rest on what we've done, it's lets go home and let's finish the job," Stamkos said. "We know how extremely hard it is. These guys have pushed and battled all playoffs. It's going to be the toughest game yet, but our group can certainly rely on our experience."
NOTES:Palat became the first player in NHL history to score multiple game-winning goals during the final 2:00 of regulation in a single postseason. It was his 11th game-winning goal in the playoffs; he trails Stars forward Joe Pavelski (14) and Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin (13) among active players. … The Rangers hadn't lost at home since a 4-3 triple-overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the first round. … New York forward Ryan Strome returned after not playing in a 4-1 loss in Game 4 with a lower-body injury. He had two shots on goal and played 16:52.