Lightning End Rangers Unbeaten Run In Rematch Of Last Year’s Eastern Conference Final

Going on the power play with under two minutes remaining in the third period, the New York Rangers had to feel good about their chances to win the game. But instead of scoring, they gave up a short-handed goal to Valtteri Filppula and taking a 2-1 loss in Tampa Bay.

The Bolts drew first blood when Keith Yandle flubbed a breakout pass three quarters of the way through the first period. Filppula picked up the puck and passed it to Alex Killorn, who beat Henrik Lundqvist cleanly.

Dom Moore drew the Blueshirts even in the third before a bouncing puck put Tampa through on the game-winning rush.

The loss snapped a nine game winning streak, one short of the Rangers franchise record; the players, though, insisted the loss stung regardless of the team’s overall record. “It doesn’t matter how many games you win, when you play you want to win every game,” Lundqvist said. “This one, the way we lose, it’s extremely frustrating. Maybe I was a little too aggressive (the game winning two-on-one rush),” he continued. “A tough way to end it.”

“We spent a lot of time in their end,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “Didn’t get enough for it. At the end of the night, this game is about two plays with the puck. Two mistakes that we made, and they made us pay for it.”

For Tampa, coach Jon Cooper hopes that Thursday night’s win will get his team–who have struggled to find consistency so far this season–moving in the right direction. “It’s got to turn around at some point,” he said. “We had to get the break, and clearly that’s a big break. The first short-handed goal of the season to be a game-winner.”

Photo: TAMPA, FL – MAY 20: Ryan McDonagh #27 of the New York Rangers shoves Valtteri Filppula #51 of the Tampa Bay Lightning during Game Three of the Eastern Conference Finals during the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on May 20, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)

Article by Joe Kozlowski