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New York Rangers Tie Up Series With Tampa Bay Lightning

By Jessica Joy Curtin

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The New York Rangers came back in full force, complete with Nash and St. Louis goals, to win Game Four in regulation time against the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

1. 23. 5. 95. Final

FIRST PERIOD: The New York Rangers were given a good scare by the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s Triplets line just seconds into the game as Nikita Kucherov was forgotten in front of the Rangers net and just missed wide.

At 8:01, the first penalty was awarded to Martin St. Louis for interference. On the Rangers penalty kill, Bolts’ Tyler Johnson was left alone in open ice as a battle for the puck in the corner ensued. The puck eventually found Johnson and he skated right up to the Rangers net, but couldn’t bury the puck. The Rangers then had a 3-on-1 shorthanded chance for an overall successful penalty kill.

Past the midway point, Tampa Bay’s Anton Stralman took a penalty for interference against Kevin Hayes who abruptly exchanged a few heated words with Johnson. On the PK, the Lightning made sure no shots got through to Ben Bishop and soon we were back to even strength.

The scoring opened up when Rick Nash (3) skated hard to the net where Bishop was squared up and waiting, but Nash slid to the right at the last second to squeeze the puck past the left pad of Bishop, giving New York a 1-0 lead.

After twenty minutes, the teams were even in shots with seven apiece.

New York Rangers
New York Rangers /

New York Rangers

SECOND PERIOD: Seconds after the horn, Marc Staal headed to the penalty box for holding. Nevertheless, a blur called Carl Hagelin and a more confident Nash both had excellent shorthanded chances. At the other end of the rink, Alex Killorn shot point blank at Hank, but the Rangers goalie was able to hold on. Dan Girardi then dove to block a shot in what was the biggest chance for the Bolts in those two minutes.

Back to 5-on-5 play, the Rangers neglected picking up Killorn again as he had a chance, but Hank denied him once more.

At 7:44, Chris Kreider tripped up a Bolt and he took a seat. The Rangers were aggressive on this PK, pinching and clearing the puck for a great penalty kill.

Immediately after getting back to full-strength, Ryan Callahan‘s shot rang off the post. An onslaught in the Rangers zone was then followed by the fantastic effort of Keith Yandle to keep the Bolts from scoring on a breakaway.

After a face-off win, the Lightning were relentless with the puck and Steven Stamkos (6) beat Hank with the quick release to tie the game, 1-1.

In response, Kreider (7) parked in front of the net and tapped in a rebound off of a shot by Kevin Klein, regaining the lead for New York.

Less than a couple minutes later, Yandle (1) made it 3-1 with a shot from the boards deflecting in off a Bolt’s leg.

In this period, Tampa finished with an unbelievable 19 shots on goal as opposed to New York’s meager 6: a testament to how well Lundqvist was able to bounce back from Game Three.

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THIRD PERIOD: Lundqvist continued to dominate, punching a puck out of the air for an interesting block.

At 4:40, Nikita Nesterov was caught with a textbook high stick on St. Louis. St. Louis then got his first goal of the postseason (finally!) with a one-timer on the power play, Bishop unable to beat Marty to the pass, bumping the Rangers lead up, 4-1.

Next, Hayes slashed Johnson in ribs and Johnson looked to be in a lot of pain. The refs paid no mind however. And as it turned out, the Rangers went on another power play after Brenden Morrow‘s hook on Nash. As a result, Nash (4) tallied another goal, shoving the puck under Bishop’s pads to crush the Bolts with a 5-1 lead.

With a few minutes left, things got very physical. There were enough penalties for virtually everyone in the arena, but ultimately a short Bolts power play followed.

Morrow then backed up into Lundqvist, pushing the goalie into the post and Klein had something to say about that, putting Morrow in a headlock. Consequently, both players were sent to the locker room.

With seconds on the clock, Sheppard pushed Cedric Paquette in the face, setting off a small scrum along the boards because why not? A total of 15 penalties were awarded in the third period, but the score would freeze at 5-1 to the end of the game.

The Rangers were barely outshot in the last period, 13-11.

STARS OF THE GAME:

1- Henrik Lundqvist – 39 saves, .974 SV%

2- Rick Nash – two goals, one assist

3- Alex Killorn – one assist 

Next: Five Reasons This Series Isn't Over

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