The Rangers did everything but score Sunday night. They held the puck for long stretches in the Tampa Bay zone and as a result they went on four power plays before the game was halfway over. They amassed 59 shot attempts compared with merely 42 for the Lightning.
But the Lightning showing they are more than just speedy and skilled offensive players literally stood in the Rangers way all night killing every power play and blocking 24 shots for a 2 0 victory before a somber crowd at Madison Square Garden.
They did a great job of defending blocking lanes and blocking shots and it made it really challenging for us Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said after his team was shut out for the second time in the playoffs.
The Lightning took a 3 2 lead in the Eastern Conference finals and can advance to the Stanley Cup Final by beating the Rangers in Tampa Fla. on Tuesday night. If the Rangers win that game Game 7 would be played Friday at the Garden.
Steven Stamkos the Tampa Bay forward and captain scored for the fourth straight game and had the primary assist on the Lightning s first goal. After surrendering 10 goals in the previous two games goaltender Ben Bishop stopped all 26 Rangers shots.
But this really was a stout team effort apparently as requested by coach Jon Cooper.
You have to pull the reins back and talk about what we ve talked about from the first day of training camp Cooper said. It s not how many you score. It s how many you keep out of the net.
The Lightning handed the Rangers two first period power plays the first for having too many men on the ice in the first five minutes the second when Tyler Johnson whacked Rick Nash in the face with his stick. Tampa Bay killed both.
The Rangers had scored two power play goals in each of the previous three games but the crowd began to grumble when the Rangers failed to convert on back to back power plays midway through the second period.
We didn t do a very good job of managing it in the sense of making plays and chipping pucks in Rangers center Derek Stepan said. That was my only issue with tonight.
Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist kept the Rangers in the game. In the first two minutes of the second period Rangers defenseman Keith Yandle tried to flick a behind the back pass to teammate Kevin Hayes in his own zone but Yandle missed his target badly.
The puck ended up on Stamkos s stick. Stamkos unleashed a bullet from the low slot that Lundqvist snagged with his glove. A Hen reek chant quickly arose but he couldn't save his team later in the period when the Lightning scored twice.
We kind of settled down Stamkos said. I think we did what the Rangers did last game. We bent but we didn t break.
Tampa Bay defenseman Anton Stralman a Ranger a year ago jump started a rush from his own zone firing the puck past Rangers forward Tanner Glass off the boards to Stamkos. He whipped a pass to Valtteri Filppula who fired a shot over Lundqvist s stick.
Filppula s first goal of the series and third of the playoffs came at 13 minutes 29 seconds of the period. Less than four minutes later Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov picked up a power play for Tampa Bay when Rangers defenseman Marc Staal tripped him.
The Lightning cashed in on their second power play by pinning the Rangers in their zone. Ondrej Palat dished the puck to Kucherov then asked for it back as he closed in on Lundqvist. Rather than shoot Palat slipped a pass to Stamkos alone in front. He rapped it in.
They made it tough for us to just be in good position Lundqvist said. That s what they do.
The Rangers outshot the Lightning in the third period 10 7 but Bishop turned all of them aside. He d been hit in the groin during pregame warm ups doubling him over for minute or two but he caught his breath and picked up his third career playoff shutout.
Now the Rangers are on the brink of elimination again. They won the last three games against Washington to capture the second round series in seven games but Tampa Bay presents different challenge. Not only can the Lightning score but it can defend.
You have to find different ways to win hockey games Staal said. We just couldn t find ways to get one behind Bishop tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment