Rangers Outlast Lightning in New York

The Tampa Bay Lightning fell to the New York Rangers Wednesday night, 6-3, at Madison Square Garden. Tampa fell behind early and weren’t able to overcome the deficit as the Rangers pulled away in the third period.

New York got two goals from both Chris Kreider and Tyler Motte. Mika Zibanejad also had himself a night as he assisted on three of the Rangers’ six goals. New York goaltender Igor Shesterkin saved 28 of the 31 shots he saw in net.

The Lightning had three different players score in the loss, including rookie defenseman Darren Raddysh, who got his first career NHL goal.

This loss ended Tampa’s three-game winning streak and dropped them to 45-27-6 on the season. After the win, the Rangers improved to 46-21-11.

Clean slate tomorrow.

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 6, 2023

Rangers Ahead Early

The first period was all New York as the Rangers jumped out to a big lead early.

After Tampa’s Steven Stamkos was penalized for a slash against Vincent Trocheck, Vladimir Tarasenko found himself open a few feet inside the blue line. He shot a wrist shot that was deflected over the right shoulder of Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for the first goal of the game.

Just over a minute later, Filip Chytil drove toward the net and laid off the puck to Kaapo Kakko. He wristed one to the top left corner and scored to make it 2-0 Rangers.

Halfway through the period, Motte threw the puck at the net from the left boards and it snuck past Vasilevskiy. This gave New York a three-goal advantage.

Twenty seconds later, Tampa defenseman Mikhail Sergachev shot one from the point. Alex Killorn tipped it in for a powerplay goal to get one back for the Lightning.

A KILLER power play goal … we'll see ourselves out. pic.twitter.com/GsmW7uVbp1

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 6, 2023

At the end of one, the Rangers led 3-1.

Lightning Battle Back

The second period went much better for the Lightning. They settled down on defense and were much more methodical with the puck.

Seven minutes in, Raddysh shot a wrister from the blue line that deflected off the stick of Rangers’ defender Braden Schneider and into the back of the net. This goal for Raddysh was his first in the NHL and brought Tampa back within one.

Not even 20 seconds later, Motte broke away from the Lightning defense and shot it under the glove of Vasilevskiy to get the goal right back.

With eight minutes to play in the second, Anthony Cirelli found himself on a breakaway and tried to go between Shesterkin’s legs but it was saved. Brandon Hagel followed up on the rebound and was able to knock the puck barely passed the line to make it a 4-3 game.

HAGS GETS US BACK WITHIN ONE pic.twitter.com/Z8eAXafhpp

— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) April 6, 2023

Heading into the final period, the Lightning were down one.

Rangers Pull Away

Just over 11 minutes into the third period, Zibanejad showed off his stick skills in front of net. He put the puck between his legs and fired a backhander that went off the post. The loose puck was cleaned up and put in by Kreider to extend the Rangers’ lead to two. On this play, Zibanejad picked up his 600th career point.

With six to play, Artemi Panarin shot a wrister from the left circle for the Rangers’ second powerplay goal. This gave New York a three-goal cushion.

The Rangers converted on two of their five powerplay opportunities thanks to Lightning penalties.

A mixture of undisciplined play on defense and a poor performance from Vasilevskiy in goal led to a 6-3 loss for the Lightning.

Lightning Back in Action Thursday

After their loss to the Rangers on Wednesday, the Lightning will have to turn around quickly as they take on the New York Islanders Thursday night.

Tampa has won both of the matchups between these two sides so far this season and will look to complete the season sweep on Thursday.