TAMPA, Fla. — A treacherous lightning and thunder storm engulfed the Tampa area all day Saturday, and it figuratively made its way onto the Amalie Arena ice to wash away the Rangers.
The Lightning struck the Rangers down the same way they have their past 10 straight playoff opponents, drowning the visitors in all three zones and riding a two-goal performance from captain Steven Stamkos to hand the Rangers a 2-1 loss that ended their season in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final.
The Lightning are marching on to their third straight Stanley Cup Final, where the Avalanche await, after proving that they are still the masters of closing out series.
“They did, we didn’t,” a dejected Chris Kreider said of the Rangers’ first loss in six elimination games this postseason. “We did it in the first round, the second round and didn’t do it this round, I guess. They got timely goals. We felt like we were in every game.”
Trailing by a goal with just under seven minutes left in their season, the resilient Rangers came through one last time. Andrew Copp won a faceoff and Frank Vatrano ripped a one-timer that blew past Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy to tie the score at 1-1.
Exactly 21 seconds later, however, Stamkos netted his second goal of the night off a hard move to the net to zap any momentum the Rangers could have had from the tying score.
The Rangers’ 2-0 lead in the series was obliterated just as quickly as it was built, with the Lightning winning four games in a row to prove that they were simply the better team. And that’s just how it goes sometimes, right? The Lightning are the reigning back-to-back champions and are gunning for a three-peat. The Rangers, meanwhile, earned their first non-bubble playoff berth in five years and went on their longest run since 2015, when they lost to the Lightning as well.
But the Rangers let a golden opportunity slip through their fingers by not winning either Game 3 or Game 4. That was their moment to seize, and they didn’t. Now, they head back to New York empty-handed after one of the most extraordinary seasons in recent memory.
“I’m proud of our guys,” head coach Gerard Gallant said. “We battled hard, competed every night.”
Their back-to-back seven-game series in Rounds 1 and 2 eventually caught up to the Rangers, who progressively slowed down as the conference final went on. The Lightning’s stretch of rest, while waiting for the Rangers-Hurricanes second-round series to end after they swept the Panthers in four games, fueled their legs just in time.
That much was evident in how the Rangers often struggled to stay on their skates and resorted to throwing their bodies around to try and contain Tampa Bay on Saturday. The Lightning controlled the pace for a majority of the game, knocking the Rangers off almost every puck and taking it for themselves.
The Rangers were stymied whenever they were in their own end, and the only hope was provided by goalie Igor Shesterkin, whose 28 saves were the only reason why the game didn’t get out of hand. The rest of his team couldn’t muster up any offensive support — as has been a trend for the Blueshirts this entire season.
The Rangers were down to 11 forwards by the third period, after Ryan Strome went to the locker room with a lower-body injury that has clearly been nagging him for some time. Kaapo Kakko also had been scratched for the first time this season as Gallant adjusted his lineup for the Rangers’ sixth elimination game. As a result, Dryden Hunt drew into the lineup for the first time since Game 3 of the first round against the Penguins.
Still, personnel changes weren’t the Rangers’ downfall. It was the team at the other end of the ice. Ten other clubs couldn’t escape the Lightning storm in the last three postseasons, either.
“You look back and we could’ve been done in five games in that first round,” Adam Fox said. “But we battled, it took everyone. It’s a nice young mix of guys in this room but also a good mix of older guys who help and lead the way for us. It was a great locker room. I think our battle when we were down in series really showed that.
“Wish for a better ending, but definitely promising for our team.”
