NEW YORK (AP) – Filip Chytil scored two goals in the second period and the New York Rangers defeated two-time Stanley Cup defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night in the first game of the final. Eastern Conference.
Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin and Frank Vatrano each had a goal and an assist, Chris Kreider also scored and Alexis Lafrenière and Adam Fox each had two assists to help New York win its franchise record for the seventh consecutive game. home playoffs. Igor Shesterkin stopped 37 shots to improve to 8-3 in the last 11 games.
Steven Stamkos scored a goal and an assist, and Ondrej Palat also scored for Tampa Bay, who had won six in a row and was playing for the first time since completing his second-round sweep in Florida on May 23. Andrei Vasilevskiy, who scored just three goals in four games against the Panthers, had 28 stops.
Game 2 is Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
The score was tied 1-1 after 20 minutes before the Rangers took control in the second period. They scored three times as they beat Lightning 17-10.
Vatrano gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 7:50 of the second as he threw himself at a loose drive near the left circle and fired a shot past Vasilevskiy next to the blocker for his fourth postseason.
Just 25 seconds later, Victor Hedman of Tampa Bay fired a shot from the post, and seconds later the Rangers took the puck to the other side and Vasilevskiy made a sliding stop to deny Ryan Strome.
Palat tied at 8:32, rebounding from a Stamkos shot in front of Shesterkin for his fifth of the playoffs.
The Rangers regained the lead 1:19 later. Kaapo Kakko had a hard time on the waterlogged pitch – his trademark technique was nowhere in sight today. He scored the third straight game Chytil scored.
Chytil made it 4-2 with 4:17 of the end after the Rangers had extended possession in the offensive zone. He received a cross-ice pass from K’Andre Miller and shot one time for Vasilevsky for his seventh postseason, and fifth in three games.
Panarin got an ice pass from Andrew Copp in the left circle in a 2-on-1 and shot Vasilevskiy to give the Rangers a three-goal lead 30 seconds into the third. It was his fifth of the playoffs.
Less than two minutes later, Shesterkin made two big saves during a Lightning power play, stopping a slap from Nikita Kucherov and a follow-up from Corey Perry. After the second stop, he fell on the ice for a few minutes after being hit in the head by Stamkos.
Zibanejad made it 6-2 at 6:06 after an extended time in the offensive zone in a power play, firing a time from the left circle with a pass from Panarin for his eighth of the playoffs. He gave the Rangers a man-made goal for the sixth game in a row, tying a franchise playoff record, previously achieved in 1986 and 1990.
With much of the focus of this series focused on goalkeepers, the Madison Square Garden audience began to sing “I-gor’s be-ter! I-gor’s better!” in the middle of the third period.
Temperaments erupted less than two minutes before several skirmishes erupted in a corner. Six players received penalties, putting Tampa Bay in a power play to end the game.
Kreider put the Rangers on the scoreboard in the first 1:11 of the game on the first goal of the game. Zibanejad got a long pass from Vatrano on the right in a 2 – 1 lead, sending a pass to Kreider, who shot Vasilevskiy from the inside edge of the left circle for his ninth postseason goal.
Shesterkin stopped a Jan Rutta slap at 2:09 on Lightning’s first shot.
Stamkos equalized at 7:19 when he received a pass from Rutta in the high slot and fired a slap over Shesterkin just below the crossbar for his fifth of the playoffs.
Shesterkin denied two tries near Stamkos with about 4 minutes left in the first half to keep the score level.
STATISTICS
Zibanejad extended his points streak to six games with five goals and five assists in the stretch. … The Rangers are 7-3 when they score first this postseason, and 6-1 when they lead after two periods. … Tampa Bay are 1-3 when they concede the first goal, and 1-3 when they lose after two periods. … The Rangers have scored six goals in consecutive playoff games for the first time since their 1994 Cup-winning career.
CLIMBING LISTS
Kreider has 51 postseason points, tying Walt Tkaczuk in fifth place in New York franchise history. His 33rd postseason goal moved one behind Rod Gilbert at the most in franchise history.
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