Obviously, the biggest story from this game was Mikhail Sergachev’s leg injury. Given that a stretcher was brought out, it appears that the injury is a serious one. It was an emotional and difficult scene at Madison Square Garden.
As for the game itself, the Lightning played well in the first and third periods. They defended effectively, limited scoring chances, and owned a majority of the possession. The second period, however, was their undoing. In that middle stanza, the Rangers netted the two goals that proved to be the difference in the game.
In the opening frame, the Lightning didn’t show any ill effects from the long layoff – there was no rust in their game. They were crisp in their execution, so they didn’t spend much time in their own end. In the Rangers zone, they generated several good looks. Nikita Kucherov hit the post, and the Lightning had some other close calls. In the end, though, only six of their 21 shot attempts went on net. The game was scoreless after 20 minutes.
The Rangers were fairly quiet offensively in the first, but their best looks came off the rush. And it was off the rush early in the second period that they broke the tie. Jimmy Vesey skated into the Tampa Bay end on a two-on-one. He took the puck to the bottom of the right circle and backhanded a shot over Andrei Vasilevskiy’s left shoulder at 1:15.
The goal sparked the Rangers, who spent the next shift in the offensive zone and drew the game’s first penalty. The Lightning got through that kill successfully, however, keeping the deficit at one. The Sergachev injury occurred a few minutes later. As Sergachev attempted to check Alexis Lafreniere along the boards, he fell to the ice with his left leg underneath him.
Following the injury, the Lightning had difficulty generating any sustained offensive-zone pressure for the rest of the period. Instead, the Rangers dictated the action. They added an important insurance goal before the frame ended. Following a puck battle in the corner, Chris Kreider passed to Jonny Brodzinsky, who was open at the right circle. Brodzinski roofed a quick shot over Vasilevsky’s glove at 17:46. In that second period, the Rangers not only netted the two goals, they held Tampa Bay to only four shots on goal and just 13 total attempts.
The Lightning regrouped and pressed the attack in the third, registering 26 shot attempts. They got on the board when Erik Cernak delivered a nifty pass to Brandon Hagel, who was positioned near the slot. Hagel zipped a shot past the stick of Jonathan Quick at 5:29. The Lightning owned most of the possession for the remainder of the game, but they couldn’t find the equalizer. The Rangers defended tightly without the puck and protected the front of the net. The Lightning received their only power play of the game at 15:22 of the third. They almost tied the game early in the man advantage when Victor Hedman carried the puck into the offensive zone and ripped a slapshot off the post. Shortly after the power play ended, the Lightning pulled Vasilevskiy for an extra attacker. Vesey sealed the win with an empty-netter at 18:59.
It wasn’t a poor performance for the Lightning in their first game out of the break. But against a strong defensive team like the Rangers, a two-goal deficit after 40 minutes was too much to overcome.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:
- Jimmy Vesey — Rangers. Two goals
- Alexis Lafreniere — Rangers.
- Brandon Hagel — Lightning. Goal.
