The Tampa Bay Lightning got back to playing their game for portions of Game Three in their Eastern Conference Final series with the New York Rangers, and it paid dividends in the form of a 6-5 overtime victory. While they weren’t perfect, the Bolts were definitely the better team and deserving of the win.
It was mentioned in the pre-game blog that the Bolts needed to get back to playing ‘Tampa Bay Lightning hockey’ sooner rather than later. Well, they did exactly that on Wednesday night. For long stretches of play, they had the Rangers on their heels. The first period, in particular, was a stellar display of what this group is all about when it is at its best. Granted, there were nervous moments as the evening went along, but Tampa has to be generally happy with the process. For evidence of how their process impacted the game, consider this possession chart:
5v5 Corsi chart from @HockeyStatsCa. That's much closer to #TBLightning hockey than we saw in Games 1 & 2. pic.twitter.com/DgxDO3Koe5
— Michael Stuart (@hockeybuzzstu) May 21, 2015Despite their dominant and impressive start, the Lightning fell behind early. Just 1:02 into the game, with Cedric Paquette in the box for roughing, Derick Brassard made them pay with his 6th of the postseason. He beat a screened Ben Bishop from a fair distance to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.
Matters went from bad to worse about nine minutes later, as Jesper Fast scored his first of two on the night to double the Rangers lead. Able to take advantage of a bad Lightning change, which occurred because an injured Matt Carle took a while to get to the bench, Fast broke in all alone on Bishop and popped the puck into the cage. At that point, it was hard not to get the feeling that Tampa was in trouble. But, give the home team credit – they didn’t give up!
Perhaps the biggest goal of the evening was the one that stopped the bleeding. It came just over a minute after Fast scored, and reignited Tampa’s spirit and the crowd at Amalie Arena. The goal was Steven Stamkos’s fifth of the postseason, a rebound conversion after a two-on-one rush. It was the highlight on what was a monster night for the Captain, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
Once Stamkos pulled his team back into the game, the ‘Triplets’ went to work. It started with Ondrej Palat’s fifth of the playoffs, a power play goal scored midway through the second period. Fed beautifully by Tyler Johnson, who was on fire once again, Palat chipped the puck past Lundqvist for the score. That tied the game, and got the goal-scoring party started.
Less than three minutes after Palat tied the game with help from Johnson, Johnson put the Bolts ahead with help from Palat. His 12th (!) of the postseason puts him in some pretty elite company in the Lightning’s history books; it ties him for the most goals scored in a single playoff season. The best part is that there’s still plenty of hockey left to be played.
The 3-2 Bolts lead turned into a 4-2 Lightning lead at 17:18 of the second, courtesy of Alex Killorn’s sixth of the playoffs. Killorn’s goal felt like an insurance marker, but it never really had the chance to become one. That’s because Fast scored his second of the night for New York less than 30 seconds later. As a result, the two-goal lead was reduced to a one-goal lead with only 20 minutes left on the clock.
Given that the first two periods were defined by a back-and-forth goal scoring parade, it didn’t really come as a surprise when Ryan McDonagh scored a power play goal only minutes into the third period to tie the game at four. With Andrej Sustr, who had a rough night, in the box for tripping, McDonagh fired the puck past a sprawling Bishop for the tally.
That’s when the questions started flowing. Were the Rangers going to build on that goal and take control of the game? Would the Lightning respond? The outcome of the game was truly up in the air with 17-plus minutes left in regulation.
Unable to capture momentum and grab a lead after scoring the tying goal, New York fell behind again. And, again, it was Ondrej Palat who did the damage. Helped out by Nikita Nesterov and Nikita Kucherov, he gave the Lightning a 5-4 lead with less than six minutes to go.
Could the Bolts exhale? Nope. The back-and-forth continued, as former Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle scored his third of the postseason to tie the game with less than two minutes left in regulation. That one felt like a dagger, and forced the game into overtime.
It’s hard to believe that the mood inside the Tampa dressing room was anything but somber during the intermission between the third period buzzer and the extra frame. Leads of 4-2 and 5-4 had slipped right through their fingers on home ice, a place where they were virtually unbeatable all year long. However, their mental toughness shined through, as they were able to push any negative thoughts out of mind when they hit the ice in overtime.
After Ben Bishop made couple key stops to open the frame, Nikita Kucherov skated into the New York zone and rifled a simple wrist shot past Henrik Lundqvist. You won’t see goals like that beat ‘The King’ very often, but it didn’t matter to Kucherov or the Lightning. It counted just the same. His teammates swarmed him, the crowd erupted, and the Bolts walked off the ice with a series lead in their back pocket.
Was it a perfect performance? No. The defense had some issues, and handed the Rangers opportunities a bit too often. The penalty kill still looks brutal. But, on the whole, tonight's game was a good example of what Bolts hockey is all about. Strong even-strength play often results in wins. It can make up for the odd defensive mistake or blown assignment, and it did on this occasion.
In closing, the importance of this win cannot be understated. Up 2-1 with another game to be played at Amalie two nights from now, the Lightning have a real chance to take a commanding lead in this series. Having beaten Lundqvist for six goals in each of the last two games, the seeds of belief have certainly been planted. If they continue to play their game, this Lightning squad can continue to win. It’s really that simple.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.