TAMPA, Florida – Game four of the Eastern Conference final was a tale of two different halves despite the game being divided into three equally-timed parts. The first half was a tight game in which shots were relatively even and the score tied 1-1. The second half was all Rangers who dominated the game midway through en route to a 5-1 victory, tying the series at two games each and heading back to Madison Square Garden for game five.
New York gained a spectacular effort from goaltender Henrik Lundqvist who stopped 38 of 39 shots. Offensively, the Rangers found firepower from several players who had pretty much been missing in action.
Rick Nash chipped in two goals and an assist, his first points of the series. Keith Yandle netted a goal and two assists, the second night in a row with points after being held of the scoreboard in the first two games of the series. Even Martin St. Louis found his way to the net, getting his first goal in sixteen playoff games.
After even play most of the period, New York gained an edge on Tampa Bay. With less than three minutes remaining in the opening period and in their defensive zone, the Rangers’ Carl Hagelin kicked the puck out of a scrum at the near boards and up ice to a waiting Kevin Hayes. The rookie right winger headed up ice and then found Nash cutting in on the left side. With speed and racing by both Cedric Paquette and Alex Killorn, Nash streaked in all alone on Ben Bishop. Nash sped by the crease and sent a backhander into the lower right corner to light the lamp.
It was just the start New York needed. Both teams were tied in shots at seven each as the Rangers took the 1-0 lead into intermission.
Steady play continued coming out of the break, until a little more than eleven minutes into the middle period. The Lightning won the draw and sent the puck back to Victor Hedman who took a heavy shot from the left point. Lundqvist got his left pad on it, but the Rangers could not clear the zone.
Valtteri Filpulla controlled the puck on the far boards and then left it for Alex Killorn. He found Steven Stamkos high in the slot, virtually uncovered. The Tampa Bay captain turned in an instant and with a lethal one-timer, his shot eluded the outstretched blocker of Lundqvist. It was Tampa Bay’s ninth shot of the period while the Rangers had mustered just one to that point.
But it didn’t take long for the Rangers to re-take the lead. With just less than five minutes to play in the period, the Rangers dumped the puck into the Tampa Bay zone. The Lightning’s Brendan Morrow could not control it behind the goal and then gave the puck away. The Rangers fed it out to a waiting Keith Yandle at the near side point. With plenty of room to move, Yandle found Kevin Klein at the far circle and upon controlling the cross-ice pass, shot on net. Bishop made a great first save with his glove, but the rebound came to Chris Kreider who made no mistake in giving New York the 2-1 lead.
The Blueshirts were not done. With increased pressure and under three minutes to play, something odd happened. Despite pressure in the zone from the visitors, Tampa Bay was keeping the Rangers high along the blue line when Kevin Klein found an open Keith Yandle along the near boards. He one-timed a shot toward the net that was going wide left, but hit Hedman in the right leg on the way by, changing the direction of the puck and sending it into the lower left corner. Bishop reacted, but just too late, as it was not to be stopped. New York now had a 3-1 lead.
Despite outshooting the Rangers 19-6 in the final period, the Lightning could only net one goal. The Rangers scored on two of their final five shots, all of which came in the last 4:44 of the period.
Through two periods, Tampa Bay doubled up New York in shots 26-13, but could not solve Lundqvist.
The Lightning, seething at the success the Rangers had despite outshooting them in the game, went back to work in the third, pounding Lundqvist with multiple changes. The Lightning fired eight shots at the Rangers’ netminder with one hitting the left post and the other seven being turned aside with magnificent saves.
The momentum continued for Tampa Bay until New York’s Martin St. Louis was high-sticked by the Lightning’s Nikita Nesterov, giving the visitors a power play just more than five minutes into the period. On the first entry into the offensive zone, the Rangers had the Lightning all confused and with plenty of space to make plays. On their first effort of the man-advantage, Derek Brassard found Martin St. Louis across the ice with an open net. Seeking to expose the weakness most large goaltenders have in moving laterally with quickness, it took just twenty-eight seconds for the former Tampa Bay captain to get his first goal of the playoffs, giving the Rangers a 4-1 lead.
And it kept going from bad to worse. While once again being shorthanded, this time on Tampa Bay’s Brendan Morrow for hooking Nash, the Rangers dominated the Lightning. With just thirty seconds left in the power play, Yandle fired from the left point and the drive was deflected on goal by Kevin Hayes. Bishop made the initial save, but Nash had gone toward the net during the play and found a way to tap the puck between the netminder’s pads to give the Rangers a 5-1 lead.
Late in the game and with frustration seeping deep onto the Tampa Bay bench, fifty minutes in penalties were issues including ten-minute misconducts to New York’s Tanner Glass and to Nikita Kucherov and Cedric Paquette of the Lightning.
New York finished with 26 shots, but enough of them snuck past Bishop who let in five goals for the second game in a row.
Game five is Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Game six is set for Tuesday, May 26th in Tampa Bay and, if a seventh game is needed, it will be played back in New York on Friday, May 29th. All games are set to start at 8 PM ET.
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