In a game where the final score doesn’t reflect the true dominance of the Lightning, Tampa Bay defeated the Rangers 5-3 on Thursday. The contest was pretty much never in doubt, as Tampa outshot New York 21-5 in the first, using their speed and skill, and never looked back. The Blueshirts tallied two meaningless goals in the third to make the result look better than it actually was.
Game recap:
MSG Post-Game:
The Lightning held a 17-0 shot advantage and 2-0 score edge midway through the first period. Vladislav Namestnikov had New York’s first shot on goal at 10:52 of the stanza. Cedric Paquette gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 2:31 of the period when put in the rebound of a shot by Chris Kunitz after Tampa swept into the zone on a 2-on-1. Adam Erne made it 2-0 at 7:50 of the frame with his third goal of the season beating Brady Skjei to a loose puck in the slot.
Anthony Cirelli put Tampa Bay ahead 3-0 at 1:53 of the second period, getting inside position on Kevin Hayes and deflecting a point shot by Mikhail Sergachev. Cirelli was a name mentioned early on in the Ryan McDonagh, who missed the game as he recovers from his broken hand, trade rumors. You can very easily see why Tampa is high on Cirelli, who is now playing in all situations and had two assists to go along with his goal last night.
Ryan Spooner scored to make it 3-1 at 7:10 of the second period. He has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in six games since he was acquired in the Rick Nash trade from the Bruins on Feb. 25. Spooner and Kevin Hayes, who scored New York’s final goal, are making a strong late-season push as they look to raise their asking prices as Restricted Free Agents. The Rangers will need to decide whether to keep Spooner, Hayes and Namestnikov, not to mention Jimmy Vesey as well, though Vesey will come the cheapest of the four. One key will be to determine each of their asking prices, both in terms of years and dollars, and then also, to figure out where they fit in the future lineup and roster.
The Lightning went ahead 4-1 on Chris Kunitz's goal at 12:35 of the second, following a turnover behind the net created by miscommunication between Hernrik Lundqvist and Neal Pionk. Lundqvist was aggressive going behind the net, as he tried to overcompensate for the pressure Tampa placed on him and the team. Tyler Johnson made it 5-1 at 17:30 putting in a second rebound, beating Alexandar Georgiev, who had replaced Lundqvist after the Lightning made it 4-1 on their 31st shot of the game. Georgiev stopped 13 shots, as Tampa finished the contest with a 45-30 edge in that category.
The window dressing goals in the third were scores by Zuccarello at 3:27 of the period to make it 5-2, and Hayes at 17:41 of the frame.
The Lightning (47-17-4) have now won four games in a row and are 8-0-1 in their past nine. The victory extended Tampa Bay’s lead over Boston for first place in the Atlantic Division to six points. In addition, the victory allowed the Lightning to maintain their mark as the best team in the league, one point ahead of the Predators. On the flip side, the Rangers (30-32-6) have now lost two straight games after winning three in a row and are nine points behind the Blue Jackets for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. New York remains in the last place in the Metro Division.
Chris Kreider left the game at 17:39 of the first period after taking a hit to the head. After the game, coach Alain Vigneault said Kreider was held out for precautionary reasons after passing a medical tests. CK20 has had a rough year, undergoing rib resection surgery due to a blood clot in his arm, sidelining the winger from December 27 to Feburary 23.
Brett Cyrgalis described the rehab process for Kreider, who dropped 25 pounds during his recovery and now clocks in at 215 pounds:
The rehab from the surgery was a grueling process, as first Kreider had to regain feeling in his arm, which went numb during a game Dec. 27 and, because of the nerves involved in the procedure, mostly remained that way until well after the surgery. That nerve involvement is likely what led the medical staff to be so cautious Thursday night.
But Kreider did fight his way back, first regaining strength and mobility, and when he finally started skating, there were times it felt like he was relearning the game all over.
“It was kind of cool, frustrating at first, but kind of cool,” Kreider said. “When I first starting skating, it felt like I never stickhandled in my life. And then I could see material improvement every time, like over the course of that individual skate.”
There is a bit more rehab for Kreider to do over this summer, and the hope was that this setback Thursday was not going to be anything long-term. He’ll turn 27 on April 30, and he has two more years left on his contract with an annual salary-cap hit of $4.625 million, with unrestricted free agency waiting.
All the pre-game hype over facing Rangers south didn’t pan out in the game. Facing Ryan Callahan and Anton Stralman has become old hat. Taking on Dan Girardi is still a bit off, as this was the just second game against the former Ranger, both coming on the road. McDonagh missed the contest while J.T. Miller posted one shot on goal and won 8 of 11 face-offs in his first game against the Rangers. The more emotional moment will come March 30, when New York faces Tampa at home and has a tribute for G, Mac Truck and Miller, maybe one per period or possibly all at once. On the flip side, Namestnikov went 4-for-13 on face-offs and had one shot on goal and two hits in his first game against the Lightning since he was traded to the Rangers on Feb. 26.
After losing to Winnipeg 3-0 on Tuesday and Tampa 5-2 last night, Florida on Saturday, Carolina and Pittsburgh are the next three on the docket. Following these four games, contests versus St. Louis, Columbus and Pittsburgh follow, after which it's Washington (home-and-road), Tampa (last home game) and Carolina (road) to close out March. In April, New York faces the Devils, Islanders and Flyers, all on the road. Right now, New Jersey and Columbus are in the wild card spots but Florida is just two points back of the Blue Jackets and three feommthe Devils with three games in hand with Carolina two points behind Florida with no games in hand.
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