Lightning pick 6 again, go up 2-1 with OT victory
Tampa Bay was the highest scoring team in the NHL during the regular season. The Lightning are getting back to those wide-open ways in the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Rangers.
Nikita Kucherov scored 3:33 into overtime and the Lightning scored six goals for the second straight game in a 6-5 win over the visiting Rangers on Wednesday. The win gave the Bolts a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with Game 4 on Friday, also in Tampa, Fla.
The Rangers were the third-best offense in the NHL during the regular season at 3.02 goals per game, so their prolonged playoff drought was a mystery in spite of the improved competition. New York finally broke out of that slump and produced its best offensive output of the postseason on Wednesday. It helped that defenseman Keith Yandle had his best game of the postseason with two assists.
The question now is whether the Rangers can defend the quicker Lightning, who are making a mockery of the Ranger's supposedly stalwart defense and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.
"I prefer to play this way if we keep winning," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "It's just amazing the skill level and the speed, and how these guys can play the way they do at that high pace.
"They probably haven't seen a team like us on a regular basis, but they're probably looking a little bit in the mirror because we play similar styles."
Play of the day: Kucherov's game-winning goal in overtime. Kucherov looked like he was going to take the puck wide, but after a head fake he cut to the middle and released a shot between Rangers defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi with goalie Lundqvist playing deep in his crease. Kucherov's wrist shot beat Lundqvist to the stick side.
Turning Point: Steven Stamkos' first-period goal. The Rangers were off and running with a two-goal lead midway through the first period. It looked like that Game 2 collapse was an aberration -- a longstanding pattern with this team, which is 2-10 in Game 2's since 2012. Then Lightning forward Stamkos ignited his team and turned the game into a track meet. Stamkos stole the puck from New York's Dan Boyle in the Tampa end, fed Alex Killorn on a 2-on-1 rush then cleaned up Killorn's rebound to cut the lead to 2-1.
Three stars
1. Nikita Kucherov, RW, Tampa Bay. Kucherov had a goal and an assist to move into a tie with Ducks right wing Corey Perry for second place in NHL postseason points (16).
2. Ondrej Palat, LW, Tampa Bay. Palat had the first multi-goal playoff game of his career (two) and added an assist.
3. Jesper Fast, RW, New York. Fast had a pair of goals and was an offensive catalyst for the Rangers all night.
Series: Tampa leads 2-1
Key stat: Rangers goalie Lundqvist has allowed five-plus goals six times this season. Four of those games -- the last four, including the last two playoff games -- were against Tampa Bay, which has put up back-to-back six spots against Lundqvist.
Key stat II: Tampa's Triplets Line of Tyler Johnson, Palat and Kucherov has 25 goals in the postseason.
Best visual: Palat's saucer pass. In a seesaw Game 3, Palat executed a beauty of a saucer pass in tight quarters when he lifted the puck over the sticks of Rangers Kevin Klein and Chris Kreider and onto Johnson's stick for an easy tap-in and a 3-2 lead.
Best at being worst: Ben Bishop, G, Tampa Bay. Bishop didn't get enough help, but he gave up five goals on just 28 shots, which allowed the Rangers to stick around in a game where Tampa had 40 shots on goal.
Best argument for full shields: Rangers defenseman McDonagh caught Tampa forward Stamkos in the chompers with his stick, sending Stamkos to the dressing room for some dental work.
Best quote: "You look at Palat especially tonight; he was playing possessed. He was unbelievable all over the ice. He's a tough, physical guy. He's hard to get the puck off of him. He has skill and he can make plays. Then Kuch(erov) is one of those guys when you think he literally has nothing, he just whips up something and makes something out of it. They all compete and make my job a lot easier. I just kind of have to float around for them." — Lightning center Johnson on his linemates.
GIF: OUCH. no penalty. pic.twitter.com/N62Pdbobon
— Stephanie Vail (@myregularface) May 21, 2015
What we learned: Game 1 had us questioning our belief that the Rangers would have to score more than they did in the first two rounds when they were averaging two goals per game. Games 2 and 3 have reaffirmed our earlier belief. Tampa Bay generates a lot of chances with its skill and speed. New York probably doesn't want to play 6-5 games, but 4-3 and 3-2 wins will likely be needed if the Rangers are to win this series. The Lightning offense is just too good.
Next game: Game 4, Friday, 8 p.m. ET at Amalie Arena in Tampa.
Final thought: Nine Chicago Blackhawks set career-highs in ice time during Game 2's triple overtime win in Anaheim, led by defenseman Duncan Keith's 49:51. Chicago's lack of blue line depth has been well chronicled but coach Joel Quenneville isn't expressing outward concern about the heavy minutes they are playing. "They just had 10 days off," he told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I feel pretty good about it."
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