Facing elimination with their backs against the wall, the Rangers kept their Stanley Cup dreams alive last night thanks to goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who blocked 36 SOG. The Rangers scored five goals in the 3rd period, winning 7-3. The Rangers were under pressure and made some good decisions.
Both teams have excelled when forced to go into survival mode, the Rangers especially. The Rangers came to play their best game and the Bolts fell apart in the 3rd. A loss for the Lightning means that the series goes back to the Rangers’ home ice in Madison Square Garden for Game 7. The Bolts have won two out of three of the games there, but who will be in more of a survival mode? The Rangers' desperation could make it far more challenging. If the Lightning can rattle Lundqvist, who has been the Rangers’ best player postseason, then they can move on from last night’s unpleasant loss and put this series in their rearview mirror. The Lightning know that finishing off the Rangers won’t be an easy task, but Coach Cooper has guided and honed the team for this very moment.
Coach Cooper reflected on the third period by saying, “I think for five straight periods, we played really, really well. We played defense. We created chances. We just didn't turn pucks over. We thought we were playing a 2-1 game. Unfortunately, we weren't winning 2-1. And I think in a matter of seven or eight minutes there in that third period, we gave up more scoring chances and turned over more pucks, more than we did in all of Game 5 combined, the 60-minute game. For our team, as a group, we've never been this far before, and so it's just more lessons learned, and sometimes you have to go to the school of hard knocks to find out what works and what doesn’t."
Ryan Callahan scored his first goal of the playoffs late in the first period to cut the Rangers' lead to 2-1. Callahan’s breakaway goal was assisted by Anton Stralman and Ben Bishop.
After a scoreless 2nd, Andrei Vasilevsky was put in goal to relieve Bishop after the Rangers took a 5-1 lead in the 3rd.
Nikita Kucherov scored a pair of goals in the game, his eighth and ninth goals of the postseason. Sadly for Tampa, that wasn’t enough to contend with the five goals the Rangers scored in the 3rd, including Rangers forward Derick Brassard, who recorded his third goal to achieve a hat trick.
Tyler Johnson collected assists on both Kucherov goals. Johnson now leads the NHL for points with 20 during the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Steven Stamkos had his four-game goal streak seized in the loss.
The Lightning/Rangers will play Game 7 on Friday night at Madison Square Garden. The Lightning have won two out of the three games played this series at MSG. Earning that last victory is always the hardest. The further you get, the more intense it gets. Here’s to the Lightning winning a third at MSG.
