Rangers blow out Lightning to force Game 7
The New York Rangers force a Game 7 with their win Tuesday night. (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 6.
New York Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, Game 6
Rangers 7, Lightning 3 | Series tied 3-3 |Game 7, Friday
Game 6 in a nutshell: It was pretty much like two games in one for the New York Rangers. One bad, one great. For the first two periods the Rangers couldn’t seem to do anything right — even though they somehow had the lead — and looked as if they were going to need Henrik Lundqvist to steal the game. They couldn’t get out of their own zone, they were not generating any sort of sustained pressure in the Tampa Bay zone and it seemed to be a matter of when, and not if, the Lightning were going to tie the game. And then the Rangers scored five goals in the third period on their way to a 7-3 win to force a Game 7 in New York on Friday night.
Turning point: Midway through the first period with the Rangers leading 1-0, Henrik Lundqvist made an incredible pad save on Lightning forward Steven Stamkos, taking away what looked to be a sure goal to extend his goal scoring streak to a fifth game. Just a few minutes after that, Keith Yandle shot through traffic and into the back of the net to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.
Three things we learned
1. Rick Nash was fantastic for the Rangers on Tuesday night, scoring his fifth goal of the playoffs and added three assists in what might have been his best game of the postseason. Nash has been heavily criticized this postseason for not producing enough even though he has been playing extremely well in other areas. It was only a matter of time until the production returned, and after his performance Tuesday he is up to 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in the playoffs.
2. Even though he gave up three goals, Henrik Lundqvist was pretty great in another elimination game … and for two periods the Rangers needed him to be. The Rangers were outplayed through the first two periods and were badly outshot and outchanced as they leaned heavily on their goalie. Lundqvist shut down Tampa Bay’s offense long enough for his teammates to get to Ben Bishop in the third period. And now the Lightning have to face Lundqvist in a Game 7 in New York on Friday night.
3. Lundqvist and Nash were not the only Rangers to have huge games on Tuesday. Three different players finished with at least four points, including Derick Brassard (five points, including a hat trick) and J.T. Miller (one goal, three assists). Even though Brassard finished with three goals and the game-high in points, Miller might have been their best overall player.
Video of the game: The aforementioned Henrik Lundqvist save on Steven Stamkos that helped turn the game in the Rangers’ favor.
Lundqvist being Lundqvist. #NYRvsTBL #StanleyCup https://t.co/usKj7Q8htW
— NHL (@NHL) May 27, 2015
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