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Tampa Bay Lightning Rally To Complete Season Sweep Of The New York Rangers

By Tasha St. Pierre

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The Tampa Bay Lightning may not have got off to the start they would have hoped for, but after rallying in the third period in a really big way, the Lightning would defeat the New York Rangers 6-3 and successfully complete the season sweep of the Blue Shirts.

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The first period didn’t start off quite according to plan. In the first couple of minutes of the game, the Tampa Bay Lightning spent a lot of time in the defensive zone.

The New York Rangers put a decent amount of pressure on the defense, but the Lightning was finally able to clear the zone.

Once the Bolts got over the initial pressure put on them by the Rangers, everything seemed to fall back into place. In fact, it wasn’t much longer until first blood was drawn.

It was the triplet line that was able to get the Bolts on the board with a goal from Tyler Johnson off a pass from his partner in crime Ondrej Palat and defenseman Victor Hedman.

I know that I have said this a million times before, but something like this may just be deserving of a million and one; the chemistry shown between the members of this line is absolutely uncanny. If we didn’t know any better, we would think that they can read each other’s’ minds.

As the Chief mentioned during the broadcast, it almost seemed as if the Johnson goal took a lot of the steam out of the Rangers hot start.

The bad news is, it wasn’t long until they found that steam once again. Just over the 12 minute mark in the period, Rangers right wing Kevin Hayes would get the goal back for the Rangers and tie the game at 1.

Just after the 16 minute mark in the period, we would see one of the most spectacular plays that we have seen in quite a while. Ben Bishop sends the puck over the defenseman Victor Hedman, who passes the puck onto Brett Connolly. Connolly absolutely upends Rangers defenseman Marc Staal and finds his way past Henrik Lundqvist.

There was a point in the last few minutes of the game that I’m fairly certain that Radko Gudas would like to forget. Gudas gets in front of a shot and takes the full force of the puck in his chest. After falling to the ground, he ends up on the bottom of a small pile.

Thankfully, while it is going to leave a gnarly bruise, it didn’t cause any serious injury to Gudas.

The Lightning came back for the second period with signs of the same energy they finished off the first period with. Unfortunately, after Rangers right wing Jesper Fast was able to beat the defense in front of the Lightning net and blow past Bishop to tie the game at 2.

The second period was a whole other animal. By that we mean penalty-fest, of course.

Just before the halfway point in the period, it would be former Lightning captain Martin St. Louis who would capitalize on the Power Play and regain the lead for the Rangers.

The good news is, the Lightning were determined to head into the intermission with an even keel. After a flurry in front of the net, Johnson was able to get control of the puck and swing around the back of the net. When fires the puck off to defenseman Matt Carle, who subsequently takes the shot. This serves as Carle’s second goal of the season.

As we mentioned before, the Lightning fought as hard as they could and went into the second intermission in a deadlock with the Rangers at 3 points apiece.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have been known to be an aggressive third period team. Tonight’s encounter was no different. The third period of play was all about the Lightning.

First, it would be Brett Connolly who would be able to capitalize on the Power Play and net his second goal of the night, giving the Lightning a one-goal lead. Less than one minute later, it would be Johnson who would net his second goal of the night for a two-goal Lightning lead.

The final nail in the Rangers’ coffin was delivered with just 27 seconds left in the game as Ondrej Palat is able to sink a short-handed empty-netter to give the Bolts a 6-3 win over the New York Rangers.

We must say, this is some of the best hockey that we have seen Brett Connolly play in quite some time. He hasn’t been able to really break out since he has been on the main roster, but tonight’s game gives us a glimpse of why he is in the lineup. We don’t know about you, but we’d like to see this kind of play continue.

Speaking of players having a great night, Victor Hedman not only scored his first point since returning from a six-week absence due to a fractured finger, but he put up a three point night; serving on assists on Johnson’s first goal and both of Connolly’s goals. We are hoping this is only the beginning of things to come.

There are only two things that came from tonight’s game that give us cause for worry heading into tomorrow night’s contest. Despite what the scoreboard tells you, the Lightning offense was not very aggressive tonight. In fact, the Bolts were outshot 35-21 in three periods of play.

This is not something they are going to be able to get away with against a hungry team like the struggling Buffalo Sabres.

Also, the Lightning seems to be having some serious issues on the Penalty Kill. If they are going to continue to allow sloppy play like this, they sincerely need to make every effort to stay out of the box. We would much rather the team shore up their issues on special teams, but until then you do what you have to in order to get the job done.

All in all, the Lightning played a decent game tonight. There is no telling what was said in the locker room during the second intermission, but whatever it was did the trick. The Lightning was more aggressive, they attacked the net, and ultimately they got the job done.

As we mentioned before, the Lightning will head to the First Niagara Center tomorrow night to go head-to-head with Tyler Ennis and the Buffalo Sabres.

What do you think the Lightning should take away from tonight’s season sweep of the New York Rangers and use in tomorrow night’s matchup against the Buffalo Sabres? What did you think of Brett Connolly’s breakout night? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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