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As the old proverb says, all good things must come to an end. The New York Rangers came to town and handed the Tampa Bay Lightning their first home ice loss of the season. In what can only be described as a disappointing performance from the Lightning, the Rangers managed to dictate the pace of play, clog the neutral zone and suffocate the Lightning’s potent offense. Despite a flurry of activity in the last minute of play, the Bolts couldn’t get the job done.
Right from puck drop, the New York Rangers controlled the style of play. John Tortorella and his players deserve a lot of credit for blocking Lightning passing lanes, stymieing the Bolts’ breakout and forcing the Lightning into a chess match. For the first time all season, the Lightning failed to dominate the first frame and, as one might expect, it ended up costing them.
Steven Stamkos opened the scoring just over four minutes into the second frame with his sixth of the season on the power-play. If there’s a positive to take from tonight’s game it’s that man advantage did click when it was given the opportunity. As Matt Carle and Marty St. Louis drew attention away from him, Stamkos slipped into the slot and wired a shot past Martin Biron to give the Bolts a 1-0 lead.
Against almost any other opponent, that goal would have changed the face of the game; unfortunately, the Bolts were playing a John Tortorella coached New York Rangers squad. The Rangers continued plodding along, playing the chess match, and frustrating the Lightning. Simply put – it paid off.
Derek Stepan broke out of his mini-slump and tied the game at one midway through the second period. His goal was the direct result of simply outworking Dana Tyrell and Sami Salo in front of Mathieu Garon. Top teams don’t allow goals like that. From there, the Lightning’s fatigue started to shine through. As the second period moved into its final stages, the Rangers were winning puck battles, pinching well and cycling the puck as well as any team has against the Bolts this season. While the Blue Shirts failed to come out of the second with a lead, it was pretty clear that they were well on their way to a victory.
Early in the third period, Rick Nash scored his second of the season by skating right through the crease and popping the puck over top of Mathieu Garon to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. As Bobby “the Chief” Taylor pointed out on the broadcast – Garon and the Bolts’ defensemen can’t allow Nash to score that goal. Allowing a power forward to simply skate right through prime territory is not a recipe for defensive success. As talented as Nash is – that’s a goal that is easily avoidable.
To cap off the Rangers’ scoring parade, Carl Hagelin poked the puck through Mathieu Garon to score what would end up being the game winning goal. Despite allowing three goals on 30 shots, Garon was fairly solid on the night. He made some great glove saves, some nice pad saves, and he seemed comfortable all game long; if he can continue to provide this sort of goaltending in a backup capacity, the Bolts crease is in generally good shape. Other than the one gaffe on the Nash goal, it’s hard to fault Garon for anything that happened during the evening.
Steven Stamkos would score the final goal of the game with only 21 seconds left to bring the Lightning back to within one. With Mathieu Garon pulled, Stamkos set himself up in his usual spot on the half boards and wired home one of his patented one-timers. His seventh of the season gave the Tampa Bay Times Forum a little bit of life, but it wasn’t enough. The buzzer sounded signaling that the New York Rangers had won the game by a score of 3-2.
Ultimately, too many missed passes and missed assignments cost the Lightning dearly. To be blunt – something was off. The Lightning allowed the opposition to dictate what happened all night long; that’s something they hadn’t done all season. While concerning, it’s also important to give John Tortorella and the Rangers full credit for the victory. To shut down a team averaging 5.3 goals per game takes effort, dedication and grinding play. The Rangers had it all.
Now second in the Eastern Conference, the Lightning are back in action on Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers. After suffering defeat at the hands of the Bolts earlier this season, the Flyers are going to be amped up and ready to play.
As always, thanks for reading.
***UPDATE***
Vincent Lecavalier has been evaluated and is now day to day with a bone bruise on his foot.
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