Tampa Evens the Series 1 Apiece

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Game 2 had too much Tyler Johnson, two too many Rangers losing an edge, too many penalties, a few miscues and ONE HUGE NON CALL on a Tampa trip of Dominic Moore. Add that all together and you have a 6-2 Ranger loss to even the series at 1-1

The Lightning score on a Shorthanded goal in the first, when Marty St. Louis had his shot blocked by Tyler Johnson and Marty then fell to the ice. He got up and chased and just caught Johnson as he shot the puck. Lundqvist made the initial save, but the puck was free and Johnson and Marty hit Henrik and the puck went into the net before the goal was dislodged from its moorings.

The Rangers then tie it on a Power Play goal by Chris Kreider, but Tyler Johnson scores again on the Power play himself and the period ends at 2-1.

Johnson scores another one, this time at even strength for the first hat trick in Tampa history in the playoffs and Johnson’s second lifetime. The Rangers then come back and Derek Stepan scores on the Power Play to bring them to within 1.

With the momentum still behind the Rangers, Dominic Moore is tripped behind the Tampa net, in full view of the ref, who calls nothing. This non-call sways momentum completely and shows that the refs have their own agenda in these games. There is no way on earth that the ref could have missed that call, unless he was not going to call it, no matter what.

The Rangers then had a huge opportunity shorthanded, when Rick Nash broke in and took a shot that was stopped by Bishop, but the rebound went straight to Jesper Fast, who could not lift his backhander over the prone Bishop. If he had, it would have tied the score. But alas, he was not able to and at that moment the game was over.

Tampa went on to score three more goals and win the game 6-2.

After the game, Tampa head coach Jon Cooper had this to say:

“Goalie’s gotta make a save for you/ He doesn’t have to win you the game but he can’t lose it”

This can only be taken one way, as a knock against Henrik Lundqvist. If this does not tick off the King, then nothing will. I believe that Hank will once again be the King in Tampa and outplay Ben Bishop and make Jon Cooper regret his poor choice of words.

That comment has made me angry as well. That and the Lightning working so hard to score that sixth goal when the game was out of reach, just to add another on the scoreboard. This Ranger team is much too proud a group to take that sitting down and Hank is much too proud a player to let Cooper get away with that remark.

In fact, who does Cooper think he is? Maybe he should wait until he is in the NHL a bit longer before he tries to call out one of the best, if not the best goalie in the league. He will learn the hard way, when the King out duels the Bishop in Tampa.

So much for not adding fuel to the fire or giving the Rangers any bulletin board material, like the Caps did last series.

Oh well, it is now on to Tampa for Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Friday, before returning to the Garden for Game 5 on Sunday.

Scoring:

TBL: Tyler Johnson (9) SHG Assisted by Alex Killorn

NYR: Chris Kreider (6) PPG Assisted by Marty St. Louis & Dan Boyle

TBL: Tyler Johnson (10) PPG Assisted by Steven Stamkos & Nikita Kucherov

TBL: Tyler Johnson (11) Assisted by Ondrej Palat & Nikita Kucherov

NYR: Derek Stepan (5) PPG Assisted by Marty St. Louis & Dan Boyle

TBL: Alex Killorn (4) Assisted by Victor Hedman & Valtteri Fippula

TBL: Steven Stamkos (4) PPG Assisted by Braydon Coburn & Nikita Kucherov

TBL: Alex Killorn (5) PPG Assisted by Jason Garrison & Valtteri Fippula

Team Stats                              TBL                               NYR

Shots on Goal                         22                                  37

Power Play                              3 for 6                           2 for 5

Hits                                         26                                  28

Face Off Wins                        26                                  31

Giveaways                              10                                  14

Takeaways                             5                                    8

Blocks                                     17                                  10

Goalie Stats:

Ben Bishop: 35 Saves on 37 Shots for a SV% of .946

Henrik Lundqvist: 20 Saves on 26 Shots for a SV% of .769

3 Stars of the Game:

3^rd Star: Nikita Kucherov: 3 Assists

2^nd Star: Alex Killorn: 2 Goals and 1 Assist

1^st Star: Tyler Johnson: 3 Goals

Broadway Bits:

The Series will now shift to Tampa, where the Lightning led the NHL with the most home wins, BUT the Rangers led the NHL with the most road victories.

The Lightning had the worst road record in the league, but won a game at MSG; now the Broadway Blueshirts will be just overjoyed to repay the favor.

Game 3 will be on Wednesday May 20 and Game 4 will be on Friday May 22.

The Series will then return to MSG for Game 5 on Sunday May 24

It was predicted to be a long one and it is shaping up to be just that.