Tampa Bay Lightning Fall Short In Game 1 Of Eastern Conference Finals

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The Tampa Bay Lightning put forth a solid effort, but it simply wasn’t enough to overcome Henrik Lundqvist and the New York Rangers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers kicked off the Eastern Conference Finals this afternoon at Madison Square Garden. While the Tampa Bay Lightning put up a fair amount of fight, it simply wasn’t enough to overcome the Rangers, who take Game 1 by the score of 2-1.

We knew before the first puck even dropped that this was going to be an interesting series, and tonight’s game did not fail to live up to expectations. When the first puck dropped this afternoon at Madison Square Garden, both teams played with intensity and a fire in their souls.

In the first half of the first period, the Tampa Bay Lightning would have a slight advantage when it came to setting the pace, but it wasn’t long before the Rangers let their offense fly free. Rangers center Derek Stepan had a couple of really good opportunities, but they were turned away by Ben Bishop.

When the final buzzer sounded on the first period, both sides would remain scoreless. While the Rangers were able to slightly outshoot the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Lightning was able to come out on top in the faceoff circle.

Unfortunately for the Lightning, the momentum would decisively switch to the New York Rangers in the early minutes of the second period. They would spend a little bit too much time in front of Bishop for our liking, but thankfully the combination of our defense and the skill of Ben Bishop have been able to keep the Blue Shirts out of the net.

One of the most undeniable highlights of the game is a moment in the second period when J.T. Miller put some serious heat on the Tampa Bay Lightning net only to be completely robbed by Ben Bishop. There are some who have had their concerns about the condition of Bishop throughout the season, but there is no denying that for the most part Bishop has come up huge when it matters the most.

These two teams continued to battle on the ice, but when all was said and done it would be the New York Rangers who would ultimately strike first. Ryan McDonagh took a shot at the net, which was deflected by Bishop. Then, the Rangers did what we have stressed the Lightning needed to do more of this season; dig for the rebound.

Next it would be Chris Kreider who would take a shot at the net. When his shot is turned away, Derek Stepan makes a third shot at the Lightning net. This is the one that would finally pierce Bishop’s defenses and get the New York Rangers on the board first.

All in all, this is not the worst position for a team to be in with a whole other period of hockey left to play, it is definitely deflating when the goal is scored just 13 seconds left in the period. The Rangers essentially put the ball in the Lightning’s court and said “now what are you going to do?”

Just after 5 minutes into the third period, the Tampa Bay Lightning would get another shot at the Power Play as McDonagh is sent to the box for two minutes for coming up high with his stick on Tyler Johnson. Considering Johnson was heavily involved in the battle at the end of the second period this surely lit a fire under the Bolts.

Speaking of fire…just over one minute after McDonagh made his way to the box, it would be Johnson’s linemate Ondrej Palat who would find the back of the net off of a pass by his partner-in-crime. The secondary assist on the goal would go to defenseman Victor Hedman.

Unfortunately for the Lightning, it wouldn’t be long until the Rangers would answer the call and find the back of the net with just under three minutes left in the game. Former Lightning center Dominic Moore would tip in a shot from Kevin Hayes to regain the lead for the Rangers.

The Lightning would fight tooth and nail for the remainder of the game in an attempt to tie the game and send it to overtime, but it was simply not meant to be. The New York Rangers would take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

One of the things we can say about today’s afternoon matinee is the lack of overly ridiculous penalties in this game. This is not to say that both sides of the ice didn’t spend their fair share of time in the sin bin, but compared to the previous 2 series, this was kind of light. These teams have never really had any “bad blood” between the two of them, which allows both sides of the ice to play some real wide open hockey.

At the sound of the buzzer, the Rangers would outshoot the Lightning 30-24, which is just about the same ratio they have maintained throughout the entire game. On the other hand, the Tampa Bay Lightning held it down in the faceoff circle, going 30-23. This is in large part to the faceoff skill of Valtteri Filppula.

The good news here is that this is only the first game in a best of seven series. The Tampa Bay Lightning now have tomorrow to figure out what worked and what didn’t before they head back into Madison Square Garden to do it all over again on Monday night at 8:00 p.m.

What do you think the Lightning can take away from tonight’s 2-1 loss and incorporate to their game on Monday night? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Next: Eastern Conference Finals Schedule Announced

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