In Tampa, the visiting New York Rangers hit the ice in the back end of a two-in-two on Saturday. 
The Rangers lost, 4-3 to the Florida Panthers in Sunrise.
So, their match was big to get them back on the winning track as the Eastern Conference has tightened a bit.
That sense of urgency was evident, Artemi Panarin hit for hat trick and the Rangers routed the Lightning, 5-1.
Igor Shesterkin made 34 saves in the win, and seems to have rediscovered his game.
The Rangers moved to 25-9-1.
“Even though we all thought that we gave an honest effort last night, we still lost the game,” New York coach Peter Laviolette said. “For them to go out and play as hard as they did tonight … it was good to get back on the winning side of things.”
The Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the opening stanza.
Panarin scored his first of the night at 1:51 of the first for a 1-0 lead. The goal came off an odd man rush with Vincent.
“It seems like he somehow continues to get better, and he’s taking more and more steps forward, which is kind of crazy to think,” Trocheck said of Panarin. “He’s obviously an outstanding hockey player, one of the best of the League. His scoring this year is up and he’s shooting a little bit more. He’s fun to play with.”
Trocheck then padded the lead at 7:36 to make it 2-0.
“I thought we came out hot. We didn’t want to lose two games in a row,” Trocheck said. “We played pretty hard and kind of set the tone early.”
The Lightning dropped to 17-15-5 off their second straight loss.
Nikita Kucherov was the lone striker for the Lightning, his power play goal late in the middle frame trimmed the deficit to 2-1.
The Rangers reclaimed the two-goal lead when Chris Kreider scored with 90 seconds left in the middle frame for a 3-1 lead headed to the third period. The goal came off another odd man rush with Trocheck.
“That’s something you talk about when you’re in minor hockey, the shift after a goal is a big one, right?” Tampa’s Steven Stamkos said. “It was an unfortunate play where we were a little in between. Stuff like that happens. Mistakes happen. It was tough timing, but that’s the way it went tonight.”
Panarin potted a double in the third period, off two brilliant moves.
He scored at 11:16 of the third off a wrist from the right.
Panarin picked up his hat trick with a power play strike at 15:26 for the 5-1 final count.
“I feel great,” Panarin said. “I don’t know what can be better [than] to finish the year like that. We won the game. That is important.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 16 saves in the loss.
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