The Tampa Bay Lightning fell to the New York Rangers in overtime Monday night at AMALIE Arena. New York's Mika Zibanejad recorded the game's only goal 3:56 into the extra period, giving the Ranger a 1-0 victory.
The Bolts were still able to capture a point from the contest, bringing them one point closer to a playoff position. Tampa Bay is now two points behind the New York Islanders for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 17 games left to play.
All About Goaltending
When a game heads into overtime with a scoreless tie, it is more often than not due to spectacular netminding from both sides. Both Andrei Vasilevskiy and Antti Raanta put on a show for their respective teams, making it impossible for the opposition to light the lamp. Vasilevskiy stopped 33 of 34 shots on goal while Raanta one-upped him by stopping all 38 shots for the shutout.
Shutouts are always a tough pill to swallow, especially when you only surrender one goal to the opposing team. Still, Tampa Bay's defeat did not result from a lack of effort. Monday night's contest against the Rangers certainly had the feel of a playoff game with both teams hyped up and ready to fight.
On Tap
The Bolts still find themselves very much in the thick of the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They will look to make progress in achieving that goal when they take on extremely talented Minnesota Wild on Thursday night at home.