New York Rangers Lose In St. Louis’ Return To Tampa Bay

Early on, the New York Rangers looked more disciplined with the puck and supported each other in their own zone. The first game’s penalty was given to Mats Zuccarello for interference. The Lightning were rewarded with the first power play. As the action unfolded, the Rangers penalty kill was caught leaving a man open. And, that man was Steven Stamkos (15) who placed a blistering slap shot past Henrik Lundqvist. Assists were credited to Valteri Flippula (15) and former Rangers captain Ryan Callahan (9). After a commercial timeout, the Rangers got on the scoreboard. Rick Nash took advantage of a Lightning turnover in their own zone, creating a great scoring opportunity. Nash fed the puck across the ice to Zuccarello, who wristed a shot over the shoulder of Ben Bishop for his fourth of the season. Nash was awarded his eight assist of the season. The Lightning were called for too many men on the ice and the Rangers were given their first opportunity on the power play. With less than 11 seconds into the man-advantage, the Rangers scored on the power play with a snap shot from another former Lightning play, Dan Boyle. With that score, he registers his first point as a Ranger. Assists were credited to Derek Stepan (6) and the center of attention Martin St. Louis (10). After a deflecting a hit from Ondrej Palat, Nash was called for high-sticking giving the Lightning their second power play. Following the play, he was called for roughing on Tyler Johnson which added another two minutes. Thus, four minutes with the man-advantage was awarded to the Lightning. Within a minute, Callahan (9) scored on a tip-in from a slap shot from Jason Garrison, who registered his 11th of the season. A secondary assist was credited to Steven Stamkos (11). That made it two for three for the Lightning power play. When the period ended, both teams were tied at two, with the Rangers being outshot five to the Lightning’s 11. The Lightning appeared to have the momentum back on their side and that’s something the Rangers needed to get back once the second period got underway.

To open the second period, the puck was active on both sides of the ice. Unfortunately, the Rangers did not register a shot on goal in the first four minutes. Actually both teams did not see many shot opportunities, where most of the play was about turnovers and play was in the neutral zone. However, the Lightning were able to keep the Rangers on their heels by keeping them pinned in their own zone with aggressive forecheck and the ability to keep the puck in. At 9:43 of the period, Callahan struck again for his tenth of the season. Stamkos (12) and Alex Killorn (4) were credited with assists. Shortly after, the Rangers got their second power play of the game, first of the period when Palat was called for a hooking penalty on D. Boyle. The Lightning penalty kill unit did a good job of keeping the puck to the outside and clogging up all the lanes in front of Bishop. As result of their effort, the Rangers went for one for two on the power play. With less than two minutes left in the period, the Lightning started a barrage of shots on Lundqvist started by a helmet shot from Palat. From there, the team sustaiened pressure and gave the Rangers all they could handle. A near stretch pass to Derek Stepan was halted by matt Carle. However, he was called for tripping and sent to the penalty box. As a result, the Rangers received their third power play. Once the period ended, the score was Rangers down 3-2, being outshot 6-9 for the period. The Rangers should consider themselves lucky that it’s still a one goal game. The team will need to come out third and make Bishop work.

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To start the third period, the Rangers had :34 seconds left on the power play which was carried over from the second period. Coming out strong, Boyle nearly had his second goal of the game. But, his shot rang the puck off the cross-bar. The Rangers power play ended, leaving the team one for three with the man-advantage. Almost halfway through the period, Lightning youngster Nikita Kucherov notched his eight goal of the season off a deflection from a shot on the blue line from Johnson (16) and Carle (3). And with that, the Lightning increased their lead to two goals in the third. Once the game resumed after a commercial break, the Rangers were able to imploy their forecheck and sustain pressure but have been able to beat Bishop. However, the Rangers made the Lightning players into multiple icing situations. And with that persistence, Nash kept the puck alive and wristed a shot past Bishop for his 15th of the season. The Rangers at that point were down by one leading into the six minute mark of the third. With 1:18 left in the game, the Rangers pulled Lundqvist in favor of the extra man. Unfortunately, the team would be left on the penalty kill for the remainder of the game after Chris Kreider was called for a cross check.

With that, the two-game winning streak came to an end as the Rangers loss 4-3 to the Lightning. The team was outshot again 8-9 and 19-29 in favor of the Lightning. The Rangers started the game strong but let the Lightning play their style too much and the team was not able to weather the storm. This makes the Rangers 0-2 to the Lightning this season.

Three Stars:

1st Star- Ryan Callahan: two goals, one assist, five shots on goal, TOI: 18:51
2nd Star- Steven Stamkos: one goal, two assists, one shot, two hits, TOI: 20:14
3rd Star- Anton Stralman: three shots, +1, six hits, TOI: 24:33

The Rangers next play in a back-to-back series against the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday and on Saturday.