In New York, the Rangers’ season is now on life support. 
After taking the first two games of the Eastern Conference Final, the Rangers offense has evaporated.
On Thursday night, the Tampa Bay Lightning took a 3-1 win and now lead the series 3-2.
Game 6 is in Tampa on Saturday.
Ondrej Palat scored the game-winner with just under two minutes left in the third period.
“We just had a good shift,” Palat said. “There was two minutes left and I went in front of the net and it hit my kneecap. … Great shot by ‘Sergie’.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves in the Tampa win.
Mikhail Sergachev had a goal in the middle frame to tie the game, 1-1.
“It’s not like it’s a super-crazy play,” Sergachev said of the winning goal. “It’s just a simple play that we practice all the time. Guys go to the net, D-men shoot the puck. As [Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos] said, ‘You keep doing that more and more and you are going to get rewarded.’ Guys got rewarded tonight.”
Ryan Lindgren was the lone striker for the Rangers, his goal gave New York a 1-0 lead in the second period.
“It’s tough tonight,” New York coach Gerard Gallant said. “It’s a tough night, there’s no doubt. But tomorrow we’ll get on the airplane and we’ll be ready to go play a game in Tampa Bay. It’ll be a battle. They’re a good hockey team. That’s why they’re the Stanley Cup champs. We’re going to have to go in there and play our best game and win a game to give ourselves a chance for Game 7 back here.”
Now the Rangers are behind in a series, where they have played most of the post season so far.
“We just couldn’t seem to get that next goal,” Lindgren said. “We’ve been in this situation before and it seems like we play our best hockey when our backs are against the wall. We’ve just got to go to Tampa and win a game. Take it one game at a time. Draw from those past experiences and go play our best hockey.”
There need to be some desperation, because there is no tomorrow beyond Saturday if they lose.
“We’ve been down 3-2 every series so far,” Rangers forward Andrew Copp said. “We’re going to have to have a level of desperation. I think the confidence of doing it before is bigger and better than having to do it again. I think there’s belief in the room. Played a pretty solid hockey game. … We’re playing pretty good and it’s a really, really tight series so we just have to make that extra play at the end of the game to be the difference.”
Brandon Hagel hit an empty net goal with under a minute left in the game for the 3-1 final
“I think you can always say in a game you can get more, but the chances were there,” defenseman Jacob Trouba said. “The goalie made some good saves. It was a tight game, could go either way, and that’s what makes it more frustrating for us, I think. It’s not like we’re getting the doors blown off us. We’re in these games. We’re right there.”
Igor Shesterkin made 24 saves and really should sue for non-support.
“We played a sound hockey game,” Gallant said. “It’s tough to lose like that at the end.”
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