(New York) The “young trio” once again scored an important goal and the New York Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 on Friday night.
Posted yesterday at 11:06 p.m.
Kaapo Kakko scored late in the first half to give Rangers the lead and end a 12-game drought without finding the back of the net.
His line, also made up of Filip Chytil and Alexis Lafrenière, hit the target for the fourth straight game and scored two game-winning goals during that streak.
Rangers picked up a fourth straight win and won their first two home games of the series to take a 2-0 lead. The next duel will take place Sunday afternoon in Tampa.
K’Andre Miller and Mika Zibanejad also moved the ropes for the New York troupe. Both Adam Fox and Chris Kreider were involved in two team goals.
For the fourth game in a row, goaltender Igor Shesterkin allowed two goals or less in the net for the Rangers. The Russian saved 29 of 31 pucks aimed at him.
Since the start of the second-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes, Shesterkin has allowed just 16 goals in nine games and blocked 288 shots.
Nikita Kucherov, who added an assist, and Nicholas Paul replied for the Lightning, who are two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. Andrei Vasilevskiy finished the game with 25 saves.
The Lightning got off to a flying start and took advantage of a power play to open the scoring. Just 10 seconds after Ryan Reaves was penalized for slashing Patrick Maroon, Kucherov fired a shot that caught Shesterkin off the side of the mitt.
Rangers took just over three minutes to bring the two teams back to square one. Miller accepted a pass from Vatrano and fired a pitch that was blocked by Brandon Hagel. The defender, however, recovered the disc and he foiled Vasilevskiy between his left pad and his mitt.
With just 2:28 to go in the first period, the Lightning were mesmerized by Chytil’s work. The latter spotted Fox, who made a fake shot before slipping the disc for Kakko, who deftly redirected it into the back of the net.
After a scoreless second period, Zibanejad set the tone in the final third by threading the needle just 81 seconds into the game. A Kucherov turnover set the table for a near-circle overplay and the Swedish striker fired a shot wrists as violent as precise to bring the mark to 3-1.
While Vasilevskiy was on the bench late in the game, Paul was patient and eluded Shesterkin’s vigilance, but the Lightning were unable to force overtime.