It looked like an easy series for the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the New York Rangers took advantage of this little Wednesday night to remind everyone that they exist too.
Posted yesterday at 11:20 p.m.
Because that’s what it is: a warning, and not the least, as indicated by this decisive victory by the final score of 6-2.
If the Lightning guys thought it was going to be like a walk in the park (thanks to the late Pierre Rinfret for this classic from the era of 110%)well, it is missed, because it will not be exactly that.
Andrei Vasilevskiy was the first to realize this. The Lightning goaltender has never allowed so many goals in a 2022 playoff game, and you have to go back to April 4 to find a game with six goals against.
Moreover, for the Éclairs goaltender, it was only the third time in 93 playoff games that he gave the opponent a 6-goal night, which he did here, with 6 goals against in 34 shots . By the way, those who said Rangers could only win against third-rate keepers may have to think about revisiting that theory.
Will Vasilevskiy be able to pull himself together? It will have to, because these Rangers are tenacious. And tiring. It was happening all over the place, and visitors were struggling to keep up. Proof of this is Filip Chytil, only 22, who had scored a total of eight goals during the season. This time, he managed two goals, bringing his total of goals since the start of the playoffs to seven. Alexis Lafrenière collected an assist on each of these two goals.
PHOTO FRANK FRANKLIN II, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Andrei Vasilevskiy
The Lightning and Rangers finished the season with the same point total (110), yet we all kind of feel like the men in blue are the underdogs. Probably because of the opponent of Tampa, the champion club of the last two years, which often looks like a perfect club. Well, Wednesday night at MSG was far from perfect.
It’s only one game, you say? Well yes, it’s only one game, and we can assume that the Lightning will recover, and also that their goaltender will not give up six goals like that every time.
But you know, sometimes all it takes is a doubt. The Lightning guys have been told for two years that they’re very good, and now they’re being told with insistence about a possible third Stanley Cup in a row, the kind of thing that doesn’t happen often. The last time we saw that, to tell you the truth, the Canadiens were still playing at the Montreal Forum.
It’s not over, of course, and if there’s anything we’ve learned recently, it’s not to bet against the Lightning, a club that is capable of exploding at any time. We could probably tell the members of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who started their series against this same Lightning in early May with a 5-0 victory. We all remember the aftermath.
So yes, for one evening, the Rangers players served a serious warning. Now their challenge is to repeat that kind of performance three more times.