Rangers win 8th in row at home, lead 2-0
East final resumes on Sunday in Florida
NEW YORK — Mika Zibanejad scored in the third period, Igor Shesterkin stopped 29 shots and the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Friday night to take a 2-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
K’Andre Miller and Kaapo Kakko scored in the first period, and Adam Fox and Chris Kreider each had two assists for the Rangers. New York won its eighth straight home game, extending a franchise playoff record.
“It’s a huge win for us, but we just get ready for the next one,” NYR coach Gerard Gallant said. “They way we played the last two games, that’s the way we’re going to have to play to win the series. We want to battle hard, we want to compete hard and we’ve been a tough out so far.”
Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay, Nicholas Paul also scored, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves. The Lightning goalie has allowed nine goals in two games against the Rangers after limiting Florida to three in a fourgame sweep in the second round.
The Lightning has lost consecutive playoff games for the first time in the last three postseasons. The two-time defending Stanley Cup champions were 17-0 after a loss coming in.
The series shifts to Tampa for Game 3 on Sunday.
Zibanejad extended the Rangers’ lead to 3-1 early in the third period. Shortly after missing wide on a 2-on-1, he got a pass from Fox, skated into the left circle and fired a shot that beat Vasilevskiy high on the stick side at 1:21. It was Zibanejad’s ninth of the playoffs and gave him goals in six of the last seven games.
With Vasilevskiy pulled for an extra skater, Paul scored in front off a pass from Corey Perry to pull the Lightning within one with 2:04 left. Vasiliveskiy was pulled again for an extra skater when Shesterkin had to make several sprawling saves with about a minute to go.
With the Rangers leading 2-1 after 20 minutes, Tyler Motte nearly added to it 3½ minutes into the second period as his backhander trickled through Vasilevskiy’s pads and was on the goal line when Corey Perry dove across to keep it out.
The Rangers outshot the Lightning 14-10 in the scoreless middle period, with most of Tampa Bay’s attempts coming in the last six minutes. Shesterkin stopped a shot by Paul from the right doorstep, an attempt in close seconds later by Ross Colton, and then a deflection by Anthony Cirelli less than another minute later.
The Lightning got an early power play when the Rangers’ Ryan Reaves was whistled for slashing 2½ minutes into the game. They quickly took advantage as Kucherov fired a shot from the right circle that beat Shesterkin on the glove side at 2:41.
Western Conference
AVALANCHE at OILERS: Colorado general manager Joe Sakic actually had a pair of assists on those two Avalanche goals scored in a 15-second window in Game 2 on Thursday.
The goal spurt by Artturi Lehkonen and Josh Manson in a 4-0 win against Edmonton only illustrated the impactful trade deadline deals orchestrated by Sakic. So far in the postseason, five of the team’s 10 game-winning goals have been courtesy of their newest additions.
Sakic has steadily built this squad into a mirror image of the championship teams the Hall of Famer played on with Colorado — fast-flying forwards and dynamic defensemen who are capable of playing any style necessary. The Avs are up 2-0 on the Oilers with the series heading to Edmonton for Game 3 Saturday.
Those late moves are coming through in all sorts of ways. Like Lehkonen, who was brought in from Montreal and has five goals in these playoffs. Or Manson, the defenseman acquired from Anaheim who scored the OT winner to open the St. Louis series. Or forward Andrew Cogliano, picked up in a deal with San Jose, who didn’t score over 18 games with Colorado in the regular season but has two goals in the postseason.
Sakic had to mortgage a portion of the future for a chance to win now. But it’s all coming together as the Avs advanced to their first conference finals since his playing days in 2002.
On top of Sakic’s recent deadline deals, there have been his offseason maneuverings. He picked up forward Nazem Kadri in a 2019 trade with Toronto, and acquired defenseman Devon Toews as part of a deal with the New York Islanders in 2020. He also traded for goaltender Darcy Kuemper last summer.
Then there’s Sakic’s draft picks: His first being star forward Nathan MacKinnon with the No. 1 pick in 2013, and later Mikko Rantanen (10th overall, 2015), along with defenseman Cale Makar (fourth overall, 2017).