The Rangers scored on the power play to increase their lead to six. There is a time and a place.
The New York Rangers entered the Eastern Conference finals with their heads held high after Monday's Game 7 win. The Lightning hadn't played on the ice in over a month, since completing a sweep of the Florida panthers on May 23.
The Rangers romped over the Lightning at Madison Square Garden, taking a 1-0 lead in the series.
We had a lot of sharpness. Our team kept going, like we said. The Rangers played a game on the day they got a day off. They were a tad rusty tonight. Nine days off wasn't the same as being 10 days off. The difference is made by it.
Jon Cooper said that rustiness was also a factor.
As the game went on, we may have gotten a little tired. He said that they hadn't played a game in a long time. That isn't an excuse on our part. I give the Rangers a lot of credit for their performance.
The players didn't want the layoff to be used as a defense for their lack of defense.
Steven Stamkos said that the team didn't have their best. The thing is what it is. We won't use that as an excuse. We have to improve.
The game was supposed to be a goaltending battle between the Rangers' Shesterkin and theLightning's Vasilevskiy.
The Rangers scored more goals than Vasilevskiy had given up in his previous five games.
Chris Kreider scored on a turnover in the first minute of the game to give the New York Rangers a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Stamkos tied the game at 7:18 of the first.
It sucks the first time. Cooper said that they rebounded well. There were some things that we did tonight that we didn't do much in the previous rounds. Some of the Rangers' players are dynamic. They take a long time if you give them an inch.
In the second period, Frank Vatrano broke up a odd-man rush and snapped a shot over Vasilevskiy for the lead. Just 42 seconds later, Ondrej Palat scored for the Bolts. The Rangers' "Kid Line" scored twice in five minutes to give New York the lead. After beating Vasilevskiy at 10:09 and then ending over two minutes of offensive zone time for the Rangers with a snap shot, Filip Chytil scored his sixth and seventh playoff goals.
The Rangers scored 30 seconds into the third on a shot by Artemi Panarin and then on the power play for the first time in the playoffs when Mika Zibanejad scored.
Cooper said thatTurk's got them going. They didn't make a big deal of where they are in the playoffs.
The Rangers are not the same team as the one the Bolts saw in the regular season, according to Victor Hedman.
Yes, a small amount. He said that they have strong goaltending, a good D-corps, and some acquisitions that have not been seen in their jerseys.
Before the NHL trade deadline, the Rangers faced the Bolts. New York added two forwards and a defenseman since then. The "Kid Line" has clicked in the playoffs for the Rangers.
They're moving. They were confident after the big win against Carolina. Hedman said they expected that.
It was still familiar names who made the difference in the first game of the series.
Some adds have been made. He stated that they have a good team. All the guys that have been around here for a while had their fingerprints on the sheet.
Nikita Kucherov, Hedman and Brandon Hagel weren't on the score sheet. The team that rolled through the second round looked different. Cooper said that they have started series off on the wrong foot before.
It's the first game of the season. This is not the first time we have been through this. When we lost the first game and won the second game, we won the series.
The second game will be held in New York.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
