NEW YORK — The Lightning have been far from perfect on the road, and Madison Square Garden hasn’t been good to them, either. So, rounding out a trip that showed both the good and the bad with a win Monday night was paramount.
While the game didn’t start well for the Lightning, it didn’t take long to quiet the Garden. By the end of Tampa Bay’s 5-1 win, Rangers fans in the top level of the arena were calling for refunds.
After being outshot 11-1 in the first 13 minutes, the Lightning broke the game open with three goals in a 1-minute, 45-second stretch of the first period, including two goals by a new-look power play that went 3-for-4 for the night.
It was the Lightning’s first regular season win at MSG in more than six years, the last coming on Feb. 27, 2019.
Brayden Point had a three-point night, scoring twice on the power play to reach the 40-goal mark for the third straight season and fourth in his career. Nikita Kucherov picked up his 80th assist on Point’s first goal, which made it 3-0 with more than five minutes still to play in the first.
Kucherov became the fourth player in NHL history to record three straight 80-assist seasons, joining Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky, Paul Coffey and Bobby Orr.
“Every year you seem to marvel at something, and that’s just another amazing stat in what will end up being a Hall of Fame career,” Cooper said of Kucherov. “Just don’t take him for granted, because he’s a special, special player and he’s been doing that for us for a long time, and hopefully many more years to come.”
With five games remaining in the regular season, the Lightning (45-26-6) moved within two points of the Atlantic Division-leading Maple Leafs and four ahead of the third-place Panthers, who host Toronto Tuesday.
The Lightning evened their road record at 18-18-4 with one game left away from Amalie Arena, the April 17 regular season finale at Madison Square Garden after four games at home.
“It’s tight, it’s for home ice,” Point said. “That means a lot in seven-game series, and we’re just really working on trying to get our game right for the playoffs, and it’s gonna be a big test (Wednesday) against Toronto.”
Power play comes through
A Lightning power play that entered the night 1-for-12 over its previous five games, came out with a new look, with Point shifting to the left wing from his typical bumper spot.
The changes might have been less structural and more to flummox the Rangers, which they did, as the Lightning put much more motion into their power play.
“I think sometimes our power play throughout the year just gets a little stale, and we get kind of standing around,” Point said. “And I think the last few games we’ve been doing that and teams have been able to just kind of sit on us and not really give us much.
“So, a little more movement, trying to get some creativity and let guys kind of make plays. You saw that guys were looser and kind of more free to make plays, and it worked out for us.”
On each of Point’s goals, Jake Guentzel (three assists) set him up on backdoor plays, finding open space below the right circle and sending a cross-slot pass to Point at the left post.
“Pointer’s kind of playing in all over the place, and he’s a special player,” Guentzel said. “So, obviously a lot of attention goes to Kuch, and you just try to find open areas.”
Tampa Bay’s first power-play goal came on the rush after the Rangers botched a shorthanded 2-on-1 the other way. Kucherov and Point caught two New York defenders flat-footed, and Kucherov finished the play far post on a pass from Point.
Gourde gets on the board
The scoring chances have been there for Yanni Gourde, but he entered Monday scoreless in his first 15 games since rejoining the Lightning. He finally got his first Monday, and it was a huge one, coming on the shift following Kucherov’s goal.
While falling down after being tripped by Carson Soucy in front of the net, Gourde collected a rebound in front and swept a backhand shot under the arm of diving Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin.
Vasilevskiy saves the day
Andrei Vasilevskiy, making his league-high 60th start of the season, was under siege early. stopping the first 17 shots he faced. The only goal against him came on a puck that deflected off Mika Zibanejad’s skate on a Rangers power play 3:16 into the second period.
Otherwise, Vasilevskiy overcame a lot of pressure from the Rangers, who had an expected goals of 4.46, in all three periods. Vasilevskiy’s 38 saves tied for his second-highest total this season. He made 42 saves during a home game against the Rangers in December.
Vasilevskiy is expected to get one or two of the final five regular season games off to rest for the postseason.
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