Goalie Ben Bishop has been everything to the Lightning this season, its unquestioned MVP, a big reason why he’s expected to contend for the Vezina Trophy.
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You could blame the defeat on the missing captain, Steven Stamkos.
G Thomas Greiss made 32 saves for the Islanders on Monday in a 3-2 win over the Lightning. The Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory at Columbus to seal a spot in the playoffs and move within three points of Pittsburgh for second place in the Metropolitan Division.
With Tampa Bay’s loss, the Florida Panthers won the Atlantic Division.
The Lightning came out firing, racking up 17 of the game’s first 19 shots, a stark improvement from its recent “troubling habit”, as coach Jon Cooper said, of passing up shots. It was just the second time in 60 games this season he has given up five goals, and the second time he was pulled. “There’s no doubt that those guys they have to figure it out at some point…The guys mentioned need to pick their pick their [expletive] up and start playing”.
The Lightning, coming off arguably its most structured game of the year in Saturday’s 3-1 win, was often loose Monday. Girardi needed a couple of minutes to get back up. That started to take some of the wind out of the sails for Tampa Bay as the Rangers started to build some momentum.
The Lightning tied it at 1 early in the second period, after a penalty kill.
But with little sense of urgency on the full five minute man advantage produced nothing, even as Tampa Bay had a 21-6 advantage in shots after the first period. His goal Monday was his 30th of the season. He was ruled out for the rest of the game early in the third….
Stamkos has 36 goals and 64 points in 77 games.
Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, of Russian Federation, deflects a shot during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers on Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in New York.
First Period-1, N.Y. Islanders, Pulock 2 (Okposo, Tavares), 13:18.
Second Period-2, Tampa Bay, Killorn 14 (Kucherov, Carle), 2:08.
Matt Martin was able to turn the tide with a semi-breakaway goal, beating Bishop at 11:00 with a hard shot from in close for a 2-1 lead. 5, N.Y. Rangers, Kreider 21 (M.Staal, Stepan), 4:46.
The Tampa Bay Lightning don’t have a long road in front of them before the end of the regular season; however, it is going to be a battle like none they have faced before. Penalties-McIlrath, NYR (hooking), 4:38; Lundqvist, NYR, served by Glass (delay of game), 9:25; Condra, TB (hooking), 12:47; Glass, NYR, served by Miller, major-game misconduct (interference -), 15:57.
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Third Period_7, N.Y. Islanders, Boychuk 9 (Tavares), 4:28.
