The Tampa Bay Lightning made their way into the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs despite a disappointing loss to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
The Tampa Bay Lightning had a lot to prove as they made their way into Madison Square Garden tonight to take on the New York Rangers. After a disappointing 5-2 loss to the New York Islanders at the Barclays Center on Monday night and missing out on an opportunity to clinch their spot in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Lightning were faced with yet another opportunity to get the job done.
Unfortunately, what they didn’t anticipate how much of an uphill battle tonight’s encounter was going to be. Just moments before puck drop from the Big Apple, it was announced that Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman and alternate captain Ryan Callahan would both miss tonight’s game. Hedman is listed as day-to-day with an Upper Body Injury and Callahan is day-to-day with a Lower Body Injury.
As you can imagine, this would mean the Tampa Bay Lightning would have to fight that much harder if they wanted to bring home the two points tonight, clinch their spot in the playoffs, and potentially own the rights to home ice advantage in the first round.
When the puck dropped to start the first period, we witnessed a completely different Tampa Bay Lightning team than the one we saw just 24 hours prior in Brooklyn. Just 2:42 seconds into the first period Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr fired off a wrist shot that went soaring past Rangers netminder Henrik Lundqvist and into the back of the net.
Just under two minutes later, the Lightning would find themselves with the first power play opportunity of the night. We know what you’re thinking right now. Great…another Tampa Bay Lightning power play. Maybe I should go get those snacks now. Well, this was not your typical Tampa Bay Lightning power play.
The Tampa Bay Lightning would do everything they could to capitalize on their chance with the man advantage. The team was taking shots, being aggressive, and doing just about everything they seem to be incapable of doing on a typical power play. As a result, the Lightning would score their second goal of the night just before the power play would come to an end.
Ultimately, it would be Tampa Bay Lightning center Brian Boyle who would sink the puck in the back of the net on the power play. The assists on the Boyle goal would go to right wing Ondrej Palat, who has been on fire as of late, and center Tyler Johnson.
There was one incredibly scary moment in the first period that left Tampa Bay Lightning fans on the edge of their seats waiting to see the outcome of this rather disconcerting situation. Tampa Bay Lightning center Vladislav Namestnikov has just finished playing the puck in the center of the ice when he was completely blindsided by Rangers left wing Tanner Glass.
Namestnikov’s head jolted with a whiplash effect as he tumbled to the ground. Thankfully, he was able to make it off the ice under his own volition; however, this would be the last time we would see him in the first period. The Tampa Bay Lightning did receive some good news in the second period when Namestnikov was able to rejoin his teammates on the bench for the remainder of the game.
Unfortunately, all the energy and fire the Tampa Bay Lightning had in the first period completely fizzled out in the second period as the Lightning fell into all-too-familiar bad habits. The lone goal in the second period belonged to the New York Rangers center Derek Stepan. Stepan would score his 21st goal of the season as Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov sat in the box for two minutes for interference.
Related Story: Victor Hedman Day-To-Day with Upper Body Injury
As if this wasn’t quite bad enough, unlike the first period of play where the Lightning would outshoot the Rangers 21-6, the Rangers would outshoot the Lightning 13-8 in the second. Regrettably, this is where the Tampa Bay Lightning lost all control and any chance they had of bringing home the two points in this encounter.
When the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Rangers took the ice for the third and final period of play, it would once again be all about the Rangers. The Rangers would score two goals in the third period, bringing their total to three.
The first goal would be scored by Derek Stepan, who picked up his second goal of the night. The second was scored by Rangers left wing Chris Kreider. Both of these goals would come in the first five minutes of the period. As you can imagine, this didn’t do much for the morale of the Tampa Bay Lightning or their fans.
Despite a short-term flurry of offense in the latter part of the third period, it was simply too little too late for the Tampa Bay Lightning. When the final buzzer resounded throughout Madison Square Garden, the New York Rangers would defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2.
Surprisingly enough, there was one ray of sunshine to shine through tonight. Thanks to the Carolina Hurricanes defeating the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden in Boston, the Tampa Bay Lightning has clinched their spot in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This isn’t exactly the way the Tampa Bay Lightning expected to make it to the postseason, but at this point, they will have to take what they can get.
As of now, the Lightning has two more games to bring home two more points. If the Tampa Bay Lightning can accomplish this, they will have earned themselves home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Considering all the injuries they are dealing with right now, this is certainly going to be an arduous task, but if there is any team in the NHL who is skilled at pulling off miracles, it’s the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Next: Vladislav Namestnikov Blindsided By Tanner Glass
On Thursday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning make the trek over to the Prudential Center in Newark where they will get a rematch with the New Jersey Devils. The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-1 on April 2nd. As you can imagine, the Tampa Bay Lightning will be looking for a repeat performance.