Shocked in Tampa: Rangers fall to Lightning in shootout.

As it turned out, the missing Rangers jolt was a match with the Bolts.

In a 180 from Tuesday’s 4-0 clunker against the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden, the Blueshirts flew south and engaged in a tussle with the mighty Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, turning in a playoff-caliber effort. It was a game akin to the intense exchanges in last year’s Eastern Conference final.

Still, once again, the Lightning emerged victorious with an enthralling 2-1 shootout victory for their sixth straight win, at the same time sending the Rangers tumbling out of the playoff picture and into sixth place in the Metropolitan division.

It was a disappointing end to a day in Rangerstown that began with fans in a state of outrage after Alexis Lafreniere was healthy scratched and was replaced in the lineup by Sammy Blais. Yet not even Lafreniere would’ve been able to fix the inept New York power play that arguably was the reason for them not garnering the extra point in the standings. Here are my takeaways from the excruciating defeat.

LAFFY’S WAKE-UP CALL:

We touched upon this when I recapped the loss to the Capitals, where Lafreniere was demoted to the fourth line due to poor performance, but for Gerard Gallant to “healthy scratch” came as a surprise. It’s been well-documented that 17 points in 36 games aren’t good enough for the 2020 NO1 overall pick, but his skating issues have undoubtedly held him back.

That was the lone question mark when he was drafted, even while he tore up the QMJHL and U20 World Juniors championships for Canada, but the consensus was he’ll only improve in that regard. Here we are in the 2022-23 season, and that hasn’t transpired as much as Laffy would like, which then leads to the next question of what type of player he is.

Watching him recently, he seems indecisive about what to do when he doesn’t have the puck, and instead of throwing his body around, blocking a shot, or heading to the front of the net for a tap-in, he hangs around like the disc is supposed to come to him. That’s not to say the 21-year-old isn’t committed to getting better; instead, his Hockey  IQ hasn’t measured up to NHL standards.

As for the other two components of the famed “Kid line,” Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko’s skills mightily improve, and so has their confidence.

The 23-year-old Chytil, 17 points in 29 games, has been a regular in the lineup when healthy, and the 22-year-old Kakko, 15 points in 37 games, has been elevated into a top-six role.

“My job is to win games,” Gallant said on Wednesday, yet the scratch comes when the Blueshirts, at least before Monday, have been rolling with 17 points(8-2-1) in their last 11 games.
If you’re going to bench people, do that to Artemi Panarin or Mika Zibanejad, who’s been underwhelming this season, especially on the man advantage.

Lafreniere is a restricted free agent, and while I doubt the Rangers want to lose him or trade him, for that matter, it puts the two at a crossroads. The Rangers hope he’ll handle watching from the press box like Kakko did when he was scratched for game six against the Lightning in last year’s playoffs and return with improvement in his play.

THE INEPT POWER PLAY:

Never mind the 46 shots on goal the Rangers had on Thursday, 45 of which were turned aside by superior goaltender Andre Vasilevskiy, because the Blueshirts could’ve won despite all that had they not completely missed the net in their attempts down the stretch.

There were a total of 82 shot attempts, and 63 were either stopped or blocked(17), and one hit the post, which means an astounding 18 shots that went high or wide, including four in the 4-on-3 overtime power play. It only added to the overall total of 498, which ranks second in the league.

The one chance that did get through came courtesy of Mika Zibanejad, whose clapper from between the circles at 12:45 of the first period gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead. Although the opportunities were continuously there throughout regulation, including a few on the two power plays the Blueshirts had, they didn’t solve Vasilevskiy again.

Luckily, Igor Shesterkin did the same and stonewalled the Lightning attack early and often, with the lone blemish being an early third-period goal by Brayden Point, which went off of Igor’s pads into the net, evening the game at one.

Despite both teams having their fair share of odd-man rushes and maintaining zone time, neither could gain an edge on the scoreboard, and extra time was needed.

After fending off the Bolts’ initial wave of attack, which required more of Shesterkin’s brilliance, the Rangers went on the power play after Victor Hedman was boxed for tripping Chytil. But despite four good looks, three by Panarin, none hit the net, allowing Tampa Bay to escape the jam unscathed.

Taking advantage of this was Steven Stamkos, who had a glorious chance in the slot area but was denied by the reigning Vezina-trophy winner. Shesterkin registered 39 stops on 40 shots through 65 minutes, adding to the notion he’s regaining his superhuman form. In NHL ranks, he’s eighth in save %(.918), sixth in GAA(2.40), and ninth in Goals Saved Above Expected(+11.2).

The shootout lasted six rounds and saw Panarin redeem himself by keeping his team alive with a goal in the third round, following Shesterkin stopping Nikita Kucherov after Point beat him into round two. But in round six, Alex Killorn scored, and Vasilevsky stopped Fox, giving the Lightning a hard-earned win.