The Tampa Bay Lightning overcame a 3-2 third-period deficit, thanks in part to a Brayden Point hat trick, to defeat the New York Rangers 6-3 Thursday night in an Eastern Conference powerhouse showdown at Amalie Arena.
Artemi Panarin, New York's very own Breadman himself, broke the scoreless deadlock at 13:58 of the 1st period with his 36th of the season to make it 1-0 Rangers. They'd make it 2-0 a couple minutes later at 16:56 with Braden Schneider tapping in his 4th of the season to give the Blueshirts the two-goal advantage heading to period 2.
Tampa Bay cooked up its own rendition of scoring in the middle of a period, their first goal by Point, his 34th of the season at 12:41 to make it 2-1 Rangers. At 18:41, Anthony Duclair made it 2-2, heading to the 3rd with his 18th of the season, squaring things up with a couple of minutes left in the middle 20 minutes. New York hopped back in front early in the 3rd at 1:48 thanks to new Ranger Jack Roslovic (7), getting his first goal with the team after being dealt from Columbus at the trade deadline. Point answered not too long after though, knotting it back at 3 apiece with his 2nd of the game and 35th of the season. Later, Tampa jumped in front for good with 3 unanswered goals by Steven Stamkos (25) at 12:45 on a Tampa power play, followed by Point's hatter (36) at 14:48 and Nikita Kucherov (39) slam dunking one in an empty Ranger cage at 16:22.
Tampa Bay improved to 35-25-6, 4th in the Atlantic Division with a 5-4-1 record in their last 10 games. They play next at in-state rival Florida tomorrow at 6 pm. The Rangers (remember, 2 New York teams), dropped to 43-19-4, still atop the Metro Division with a 6-3-1 last 10 record. They also play tomorrow, getting the afternoon matinee slot against Pittsburgh in the Steel City at 3 pm.
Team Stats:
Shots: NYR 28, TB 28
Hits: NYR 27, TB 32
Faceoff Wins: NYR 27, TB 29
PIM: NYR 6, TB 6
Wow, almost dead even on every major team stat! That's very rare!
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