New York wins series opener
NEW YORK — The New York Rangers aren’t the same team the Tampa Bay Lightning dominated in the regular season.
Not even close, and Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals showed that.
Dominic Moore scored with 2:25 to play, the defense limited the Lightning’s high-powered offense and the Rangers defeated goaltender Ben Bishop and the Lightning 2-1 on Saturday to move three wins from a return to the Stanley Cup Finals.
The winning goal came just 30 seconds after Moore stepped out of the penalty box, and it capped another nail-biter for the Rangers, who have played 15 consecutive one-goal games in the postseason.
It was typical of the postseason. Nothing pretty. Kevin Hayes sent the puck into the crease and Moore was in position for the puck to deflect off his skate into the net.
“I think it’s just a matter of wanting to win,” said Moore, who raised his fists and looked up after scoring. “We had lots of looks, couple just before that. I drove it in front and the puck rolled off my tape. Just tried to stay with it and work for a good bounce, and finally it came.”
The former Sharks forward had gotten position on defenseman Anton Stralman, whom he had taken down minutes earlier to put Tampa Bay on a power play.
“It’s one of those things you can’t do much about,” Bishop said after losing to the Rangers for the first time in nine career games.
The Rangers have won nine games this postseason and have seven victories by a 2-1 score.
“I think we’re just calm out there,” New York defenseman Dan Girardi said. “We’re not nervous. We’re like, they tied it up, no big deal. They make a good play on it, make a good shot.
“We just stick to our game plan. We never deviate from it. I think that’s what helps us in the one-goal games.”
The series opener was unlike any of the three games between the Rangers and Lightning in the regular season. Tampa Bay won all three by a combined 15-7 margin in giving Bishop an 8-0 career mark against the Rangers.
Derek Stepan, who scored the Game 7 winner against Washington on Wednesday night, also scored and Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves.
“To be honest, I don’t think we tested Lundqvist as much as we should have, not a lot of quality shots, not a lot of shots period,” Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said. “We have to find a way to generate more.”
Ondrej Palat tied the game on a power-play goal early in the third period. Bishop had 28 saves.