The Lightning were facing a motivated, hungry opponent. The Rangers entered the holiday break having gone 4-13 in their previous 17 games and were coming off a humbling 5-0 defeat to New Jersey, a game in which they mustered just 12 shots on goal. Earlier in the day, the New York players talked about how they used the holiday layoff as a reset and were eager to turn around their fortunes. Starting with this game against the Lightning.
In the first period, the Rangers showed that motivation and hunger. They were aggressive on the forecheck and repeatedly disrupted the Lightning's attempts to leave the defensive zone. They had a shooting mentality, firing 17 shots on goal. They dominated possession, created numerous scoring chances, and owned a shot attempt advantage of 30-14.
But the Lightning navigated their way through the opening 20 minutes successfully. Andrei Vasilevskiy, who registered 16 first-period saves, was a big reason why they weren’t trailing after one period. The Lightning also made a couple of plays on special teams that led to goals. During an early power play, Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov teamed up to finish a two-on-one rush. Point broke past K’Andre Miller to create the odd-man chance. He slid a pass from the right circle to Kucherov near the back post. Kucherov sticked the puck past Igor Shesterkin’s stick at 2:27. But after Artemi Panarin tied the score with a goal from the slot at 9:23, the Rangers had a chance to grab the lead when they received a power-play opportunity with 2:55 left in the period. Instead, the Lightning scored the first of their two shorthanded goals in the game. Following a Vasilevskiy save on Mika Zibanejad, Ryan McDonagh countered on a three-on-one. He snapped a shot from the right circle that snuck between Sherterkin’s stick and body at 18:11.
For the Rangers, it was a tough finish to a period in which they played quite well. Instead of being up or tied, they were trailing. That deficit increased over the opening 8:08 of the second period when the Lightning popped in three more goals. First, Kucherov grabbed a puck in the left corner of the offensive zone and centered it to Point. Point slipped a backhander past Sherterkin at 3:35. Just over a minute later, the Lightning tallied another shorthanded goal. Erik Cernak broke up a Zibanejad shot attempt, which led to a two-on-one for Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli. Hagel passed to Cirelli, who roofed a shot over Shesterkin’s stick at 5:02. Jake Guentzel was given credit for the Lightning’s fifth goal at 8:08 during a power play. Kucherov fed Point in the slot, and the puck caromed off Point’s skate towards Shesterkin. The New York goalie tried to swat it away with his stick. The puck caromed off Adam Fox and Guentzel before dribbling across the goal line.
After that goal, Jonathan Quick relieved Shesterkin. The Lightning handled the second half of the period well, killing off one more New York power play and preserving the 5-1 lead. But on the opening shift of the third period, they allowed a two-on-one shorthanded chance. Vincent Trocheck buried the shot at :13. That tally sparked the Rangers, who owned most of the possession time in the final period. But Vasilevskiy didn’t allow another goal, stopping the final 18 New York shots. Nick Paul finished the scoring with a goal from the slot at 14:12.
The Lightning struggled in the first and third periods with defensive-zone puck play. Credit the Rangers for applying heavy pressure and getting their sticks in the passing lanes. But the Lightning’s ability to make plays, especially off the rush, offset that territorial disadvantage. Winning the special-teams battle, 4-1, also helped. As did Vasilevskiy’s 42-save performance.
The Lightning will look to tighten things up when they finish the back-to-back on Sunday against Montreal.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Andrei Vasilevskiy — Lightning. 42 saves.
- Nikita Kucherov — Lightning. Goal and two assists.
- Brayden Point — Lightning. Goal and two assists.
