5 Takeaways from Lightning vs. Rangers Game 5

We have seen this movie time and time again. The Tampa Bay Lightning rose to the occasion once again and seized control of the Eastern Conference Final with a 3-1 win on the road in game five. The Lightning have stormed back from 2-0 down in the series with a chance to advance to their third straight Stanley Cup Final on home ice Saturday night.

The victory marked the first win on the road for Tampa Bay in the series and the first loss for the Rangers at home since game one of the playoffs. Mikhail Sergachev played the hero with a goal and assist along with another strong night for Andrei Vasilevskiy between the pipes.

Let’s break down what we took away.

5. This is What Championship Teams Do

This game was pretty even for the most part. The shots on goal were nearly even and there was plenty of back-and-forth action. The difference in these games can come down to a single play and the Lightning were able to make those plays in three straight games.

Two of the three wins now for Tampa Bay seemed destined for overtime. In game three, that one play was Ondrej Palat’s game winner in the last minute. That goal brought the Lightning back in the series and kept them from going down 3-0. The Lightning made that one play once again in game five and it was Palat again who was on the receiving end of it. These games are so close, but the Lightning have flexed their championship DNA in this series.

4. Emphasis on Defending

As this series has gone on, the Lightning have tightened things down more and more defensively. This Lightning team may not be able to score at quite as high of a level as teams of the past but there has been an unparalleled desire and commitment to defending.

The Lightning were able to limit the Rangers to just 25 shots on goal and truthfully, the number of real dangerous chances were limited. Even the lone Ranger goal was from a not so dangerous part of the ice as Ryan Lindgren threw the puck from outside of the left circle and just caught Andrei Vasilevskiy off guard.

As always, it helps when you have the best goalie on the planet back there when all else fails. Between the way this team defends as a collective unit and their goaltending, the Lightning are very difficult to score against.

3. Figuring out Shesterkin

Game five had probably the fewest dangerous scoring chances in total of any game so far in this series. The chances were few and far between. One thing that was noticeable in this game was that Igor Shesterkin was having a difficult time picking up pucks from far out and was struggling to manage the puck when it got in close.

Between rebound opportunities or getting bodies in the shooting lanes, the Lightning had to take advantage of a Shesterkin in net who may be running out of gas after two consecutive seven game series in which he had to carry the weight of the team on his shoulders.

On both Lightning goals on Shesterkin, it was shooting the puck from out high with bodies in the way. Shesterkin was not able to pick up either of the shots from up high from Sergachev and they ended up looking very similar. The Lightning needed to fire pucks from everywhere in this game and they had to be patient and eventually they were rewarded for it.

2. Big Night for Sergachev

Mikhail Sergachev was much more of an offensive defenseman in his earliest days in the NHL. His offensive numbers have not been quite what they were in his first few seasons as he has rounded into a much more complete defender especially  with the luxury of being able to play behind Ryan McDonagh and Victor Hedman.

Sergachev has played a huge role for the Ligtning over the last few cup runs, but remarkably he had not scored a goal in the playoffs since game five of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final against Dallas. His goal in the second period leveled the score at one and his shot from the blue line in the closing minutes of the third ended up being the game winner and was later credited to Palat.

The offensive contributions were obvious, but Sergachev’s bigger impact was taking on increased minutes with McDonagh missing significant time in this game. Jon Cooper can be more than confident in having Sergachev out there as he ended up playing over 22 minutes in one of the most impressive performances of his career

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