Lightning beat Rangers in OT, lead series 2-1
The Tampa Bay Lightning won a wild Game 3 to take the series lead. (USATSI)
Every night during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Eye On Hockey writers Adam Gretz and Chris Peters will bring you up to speed everything you need to know about all of the action around the NHL. Here’s what you need to know about Rangers vs. Lightning Game 3.
New York Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, Game 3
Lightning 6, Rangers 5 | Lightning leads series 2-1 | Game 4, Friday
Game 3 in a nutshell: Hey, remember all of those complaints about how boring the Eastern Conference playoffs have been? Especially games that involve the New York Rangers? Well the Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning sure shut a lot of people on Wednesday night with what might have been the most exciting and thrilling game of the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs so far. There were comebacks, lead changes, a seven-minute stretch where the two teams combined for four goals, two goals in the final five minutes of regulation, an incredible pace all night and an overtime winner from Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov.
Turning point: Missed opportunities for the Rangers, and there were a lot of them to choose from. With a 2-1 lead in the second period and the Rangers on the power play, J.T. Miller had a partial breakaway and at the last minute was checked from behind just enough, forcing his shot to harmlessly sail wide of the net. Not long after the Lightning tied the game. Again in the second period Marc Staal had a wide open shot from just between the faceoff dots and like Miller, fired the shot off the glass. Not long after that Tyler Johnson scored to give the Lightning a 3-2 lead. After the Rangers rallied in the third period to tie the game at four, they had another extended shift in the offensive zone but failed to capitalize. Not long after that, Ondrej Palat scored to give the Lightning a 5-4 lead. Even though Dan Boyle was able to tie the game and send it to overtime, there were just too many missed opportunites and one too many mistakes defensively.
Three things we learned
1. Maybe Henrik Lundqvist can have two bad games in a row. After giving up six goals in Game 2, Lundqvist came back on Wednesday and surrendered six more in their Game 3 loss. After giving up just 20 goals in 12 games over the first two rounds, Lundqvist has now given up 13 goals in three games in the Eastern Conference Final, including 12 in the past two.
2. The Rangers need to avoid getting Dan Girardi on the ice against the Tyler Johnson-Nikita Kucherov-Ondrej Palat line. Every defenseman seems to struggle against that group, but Girardi was a nightmare against them in Game 3 and was on the ice for three of their goals. Then again, it might not matter who the Rangers put out there against them right now because that line looks to be unstoppable. When they were on the ice together Tampa Bay was a 75 percent possession team on the night at even strength and scored three goals.
3. Good news for the Rangers: They found their offense and scored five goals in a game for the first time this postseason. Bad news for the Rangers: It still wasn’t enough to win, and that should be a concern. Tampa Bay’s offense is starting to emerge again after a little slump over the past couple of weeks, and right now their top two lines are simply incredible. The “Triplets” line of Johnson-Palat-Kucherov has combined for 25 goals this postseason and now the Stamkos-Killorn duo is starting to roll as well with each of them adding a goal in Game 3.
Video of the game: Johnson, to Hedman, to Palat, to Johnson. Goal.
Tic-Tac-Tyler Johnson. #NYRvsTBL #StanleyCup https://t.co/Tp2hUWn9cM
— NHL (@NHL) May 21, 2015
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