Sunday, June 5, 2022. 6:05 PM
(Update : Sunday, June 5, 2022. 10:37 PM)
SUMMARY
Ondrej Palat scored with 41 seconds left to give the Tampa Bay Lightning a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers in Game 3 of the Conference Finals on Sunday.
Rangers still lead the series two wins to one.
Palat allows TB to save himself with the 3rd game
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Tampa Bay erased a two-goal deficit to save its skin after dropping the first two games of the series at Madison Square Garden. Nikita Kucherov was a key player in this comeback, having participated in the three goals of his team with a harvest of one goal and two assists.
As the game appeared to be headed for overtime, Palat beat Igor Shesterkin with a shot from the short side between the post and the goalkeeper’s mitt with 41 seconds left in the third.
Coach Jon Cooper hailed the hero of the game’s hard work. “Palat is a silent kid. We have seen him for years and he gives everything he has to all his presence. He has done this throughout his career. »
Four of the game’s five goals were scored on the power play.
“We were very calm in the locker room after the second. We knew we were playing very well at five against five and we wanted to keep shooting because we knew that eventually we were going to score,” said Palat.
The Lightning experience made the difference. Trailing by two goals, no one panicked.
“It was not the ideal situation, admitted Stamkos, but there is no one who gave up in our group. We found ourselves in a similar situation against Toronto in the first round. We were trailing, we had to give everything in third. »
Rangers goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin was, in his own way, responsible for his team’s first two goals as Corey Perry and Riley Nash took penalties for coming into contact with him in the second period. The massive Rangers offense seized the opportunity to score twice and put immense pressure on Tampa Bay’s shoulders.
Forward Mika Zibanejad put Rangers ahead of the penalty in Perry at 6:38. He beat Andrei Vasilevskiy with a one-timer. Then, Nash in turn visited the penalty box at 8:23, which opened the door for Chris Kreider, who scored on a rebound just two minutes later.
Trailing by two goals, Tampa Bay as usual continued to buzz in the enemy zone and its massive attacking unit also entered the scene. Nikita Kucherov, who missed a golden chance in the first on a breakaway, put his club on the board on the power play with a one-timer to the left of the net.
In the third period, still on the power play, Steven Stamkos tied the game by beating Shesterkin moments after jumping into the fray.
Stamkos revealed that he quietly saw the scales tip gently in favor of Rangers at some point and that things needed to be changed.
“It wasn’t easy to be behind by two goals in the game and two games in the series. We felt that the momentum was going to the other side. It’s this time of year that we discover the teams that can overcome adversity. We have demonstrated our character for a few years and today was another example. »
Also in the third, Kucherov received a double minor for bringing his stick too high against Zibanejad, but Rangers failed to take advantage. The power play was cut short when Jacob Trouba was forced to take a tripping penalty following a blunder.
Both goalkeepers were solid in the game. Vasilevskiy faced 30 shots while Shesterkin was tested 51 times. “Shesterkin is a great goaltender and we didn’t throw enough in the first few games and we wanted to block his view,” added Palat.
The even numerical play favored Tampa according to Stamkos.
“Rangers got power-play goals, but I think the five-on-five play was in our favour, that’s what we were looking for. We had to play more responsibly and we showed our character by sending more pucks to the net while applying pressure. In addition, we have passed a significant numerical disadvantage in the third. Our goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy made some really big saves. »
The fourth game of this series will be presented Tuesday still in Florida.
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