NHL: Tampa Bay Lightning beat New York Rangers 3-1

Thursday, June 9, 2022. 10:47 PM

SUMMARY

NEW YORK — Ondrej Palat broke the tie late in the third period by scoring with less than three minutes left as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the New York Rangers 3-1 on Thursday in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Eastern Association.

The two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning leads the series 3-2. Game 6 is Saturday in Tampa.

Rangers had won their previous eight home games.

We had first given the winning goal to Mikhail Sergachev before changing his mind later to give it to Palat, who scored his 11th career winning goal.

Brandon Hagel scored an empty-netter late in the game, while Andrei Vasilevskiy was solid in net for the Lightning. He made 24 saves.

Ryan Lindgren scored Rangers’ only goal. Igor Shesterkin stopped 24 shots.

The game could have taken a different turn, as Nikita Kucherov and Nick Paul hit the post for the Lightning in the first period.

Sherterkin made a few saves with good lateral movement in the second period, then his teammates rewarded him by opening the scoring at 10:29.

Lindgren surprised Vasilevskiy from a narrow angle. The puck seemed to graze Steven Stamkos’ stick blade before going over the Lightning goaltender’s right shoulder.

Sergachev replied before the end of the second period, with 2:26 to go. The Russian defenseman took advantage of the traffic in front of the Rangers net to beat Sherterkin with a low shot from the blue line.

Lindgren came close to putting Rangers up front again midway through the third period. Vasilevskiy, however, stretched the left leg at the last moment to frustrate him when he thought he could shoot into a gaping cage.

Minutes later, Rangers striker Ryan Strome sliced ​​through the air after a side kick from Andrew Copp.

It was ultimately the Lightning who had the last laugh as another long shot from Sergachev found the back of the net with 1:50 to go in regulation. The puck appeared to deflect past Shesterkin, who was unable to react at the last moment to make the save.

Hagel added an insurance goal with just under a minute to go.

The Rangers players didn’t appreciate Kucherov taking a final shot on goal as the siren sounded and a scrum broke out. Stamkos and Alexis Lafrenière notably exchanged a few good punches.