LIGHTNING STRIKES
Blueshirts run out of energy as season ends
The box score will say that the game, the series, the season, were all lost on another freak goal Saturday night, a rebound off the left leg of Steven Stamkos at 13:28 of the third period. But really, Game 6 — the final, futile stand in the Rangers’ stirring playoff run — had long before turned into another night of Igor Shesterkin against the world. You just wondered how long the poor fellow would hang in there, patrolling his busy, blue crease. Shesterkin stopped tips, deflections, semi-breakaways and stuffs. The Rangers were not doing nearly enough in front of him, so it was all going to be up to the goaltender again. The Lightning kept coming at him, with just one tactic in mind.
“In the end, put it where he ain’t,” Jon Cooper told ESPN.
Then, as so often happens, a first goal arrived out of nowhere at 10:43 of the second period. It came on a 45-foot wrist shot by Stamkos from the top of the right circle, through Ryan Lindgren and then, somehow, past Shesterkin. The puck zipped by the goalie, near post, stick side, unscreened. It was not the sort of shot that is supposed to handcuff the best goaltender in the world, but then that is hockey. You throw the puck at goal enough times, something is bound to happen.
“Stick with it, try to get more pucks on the net,” Stamkos said. “We got one by him.”
Frank Vatrano tied the score, ever so briefly, on a power play goal. Twenty-one seconds later, Stamkos scored his second goal of the game, his fifth goal of this series. Tampa Bay beat the Rangers, 2-1, and took the Eastern Conference finals, four games to two. It was an abrupt, unforgiving end for the visitors, who dropped four straight games in the series after it appeared they were headed for their first Stanley Cup Finals in eight years. his was the Rangers’ 20th playoff game, their sixth elimination game, in just 40 days. That sort of pressure and brinksmanship takes its physical and psychological toll.
They also were playing against a Lightning team that is a two-time defending champion; deep, experienced, and somehow still hungry. On top of that, you can throw in some nagging injuries and a disappointing series performance from the Rangers’ leading point producer, Artemi Panarin.
Given such harsh conditions, it is actually
Ta small miracle the Rangers weren’t embarrassed on Saturday night. Instead, they put up yet another admirable fight in a hostile arena.
After three straight losses, Gerard Gallant threw the kitchen sink at the Lightning, dramatically juggling his lines and even benching Kaapo Kakko. The coach was still looking for a breakout game from Panarin, or the ailing Ryan Strome.
“Playoffs are all about big guys stepping up,” Gallant said. “But you can’t rely on one guy, one line. Different heroes every night. You just do your job the best you can.”
The changes didn’t help at all early, as Tampa Bay completely dominated play in the scoreless, first period, bottling up the Rangers in every zone. The Lightning fired 25 shot attempts in those first 20 minutes at Shesterkin, who was forced to make 11 saves. The toughest of those were on a tip by Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and a tight backhander from Anthony Cirelli. The Rangers’ best chance came from Alexis Lafreniere, alone, from just outside the crease.
“They looked slow, they looked lethargic,” Mark Messier commented, sadly. “They don’t have time to weather the storm. They have to create their own storm.”
There was no storm. The Rangers were too winded. Tampa Bay moves on to the Finals, against the over-rested Colorado Avalanche. If the Lightning wins the Cup again, it will be the first team since the 1980s Islanders to win three straight. eanwhile, the Ranger season ended without the silver trophy for the 81st time in 82 years. But this disappointment feels a little different, somehow.
It had been seven years since the Rangers advanced this far in the postseason — when they lost to the Lightning in the 2015 conference finals. There are glowing, near-future possibilities. The Rangers are one of the youngest teams in the league, and they own the best goaltender in the NHL. If Chris Drury can navigate a tricky offseason, replete with a half-dozen, expiring contracts, the Rangers should come back next season as one of the top Cup favorites. That kind of optimism hasn’t happened in recent memory.
They just have to get by the Lightning one of these years. Even dynasties don’t last forever.
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