New York Rangers Shut Out by Tampa Bay Lightning in Game Five

The New York Rangers took on the Tampa Bay Lightning for Game Five of the Eastern Conference Final. Despite a strong start, New York failed to find twine.

FIRST PERIOD: The New York Rangers found themselves on a power play less than five minutes in as the Tampa Bay Lightning were caught with too many men on the ice. The Rangers kept good puck possession but were unable to convert on the man advantage.

Soon after, Marc Staal took a seat for interference and the Bolts were faced with an aggressive Rangers PK. New York cleared the zone twice and developed a 3-on-2 chance in which Rick Nash came close to scoring.

Over halfway through the period, turnovers became a humongous problem for the Lightning, especially Ryan Callahan, creating plenty of opportunities for the Rangers.

Another Rangers power play materialized after Tyler Johnson was called for slashing at 15:01, but once again, the score was left unchanged.

Before the period ended, a collision between Brian Boyle and J.T. Miller sidelined the Blueshirt, supposedly with an injured shoulder. Then Chris Kreider stirred up Valtteri Filppula and Steven Stamkos before heading into the locker room. The Rangers held the edge in shots on goal, 6-4, as the game was held scoreless before intermission.

New York Rangers

SECOND PERIOD: Early on, Henrik Lundqvist at the top of the crease straight up robbed Stamkos with a wow-worthy glove save.

Dominic Moore and Callahan then ran into each other, both getting a high stick in the other’s face, but refs decided to let play continue.

Miller came back and the Rangers forced a turnover in which Derek Stepan got a good look at the net. The Rangers overall looked more determined to gain the lead than the Lightning at this point.

Jason Garrison was then penalized for a high stick at 7:19, but this time the Bolts started fighting back as Alex Killorn snuck in a shorthanded chance. Right after killing off the Garrison penalty, the Lightning were down a man again when Andrej Sustr was caught tripping seconds later. The Bolts were even more aggressive on this PK, however, as the Rangers gained no shots on goal in those two minutes.

Then in the middle of Tampa’s zone, Anton Stralman bounced the puck off the boards directly to Stamkos. The Bolts captain passed to Filppula (3) flying towards the Rangers net and he held on to the puck for a second before releasing a quick shot to beat Lundqvist, stick-side, for the 1-0 lead.

The Bolts picked up the effort tenfold, absolutely dominating the Rangers in their own zone. This caused Staal to take another penalty (tripping at 17:04) and the Bolts executed a tic tac goal as Stamkos (7) was left uncovered right at the doorstep.

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The Rangers were outshot, 11-10, in this segment, trailing the Lightning, 2-0.

THIRD PERIOD: Tampa Bay came out strong, continuing to set the mood from the end of the second period. Kreider tried to clear the puck out of the zone, but chipped it over the glass, putting the Lightning on a dangerous power play at 2:51. The Rangers were able to clear the puck and stave off the Bolts long enough to get back to the 5-on-5.

New York then worked to tilt some momentum back in their favor, developing more 3-on-2 chances and outshooting Tampa Bay, but the Bolts pushed right back.

Lundqvist went to the bench with just over three minutes left and at 18:21, Ondrej Palat and Derick Brassard were awarded with matching penalties for slashing.

On the 4-on-4, Kreider ripped a shot upstairs but Bishop just got his shoulder on it to deflect it over the crossbar.

The Rangers had more shots than Tampa, 10-7, but failed to bury every single one, losing the game, 2-0.

STARS OF THE GAME:

1- Steven Stamkos – one goal, one assist

2- Ben Bishop – 26 saves, 1.00 SV%

3- Valtteri Filppula – one goal

Next: Cam Talbot Shouldn't be Counted Out

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