The Backcheck: Flurry of goals sees Lightning road trip end with win over Rangers

In the opening half of the first period on Monday, the Tampa Bay Lightning were at a 10-1 disadvantage in shots on goal as the New York Rangers repeatedly found offensive looks.

Tampa Bay’s answer was scoring three goals in one minute, 45 seconds to grab a 3-0 lead before going on to claim a 5-1 victory at Madison Square Garden.

The Lightning are now 45-26-6.

“Just big time players making big time plays,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said…”I think I looked up at the shot clock and it was 11-1, and all of a sudden it was 11-5 and we had a 3-0 lead. We buried the chances we got, and then the goalie did the rest for us.”

Nikita Kucherov kicked off the scoring with his 34th goal of the campaign, burying a backdoor pass from Brayden Point on a Lightning power play with 6:51 left in the first period.

Yanni Gourde scored 44 seconds later to make it 2-0. After a Gage Goncalves shot from the top of the slot hit a Rangers defenseman in front of the net, a diving Gourde buried the puck past New York goalie Igor Shesterkin.

Tampa Bay’s power play wasted no time in making it 3-0, as Point dug for a loose puck in the slot and slipped his 40th goal of the season over the goal line with 5:06 left in the first period. Point has hit 40 goals in three straight seasons, tied for the most consecutive 40-goal seasons in team history.

“Just get shots on net,” forward Jake Guentzel said of the three quick goals. “I think we had one shot up until that point. They pushed early, Vasy (goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy) was huge for us and we made the right plays at the right times, so that was big to come out of that first with that.”

Kucherov’s assist on the 3-0 goal was his 80th of the season. He joined Hockey Hall of Fame members Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Paul Coffey as one of four players in NHL history to record three straight seasons with 80-plus assists.

“Just his consistency to be so elite offensively every year, it’s incredible,” Point said of Kucherov. “The way he sees the game, it’s amazing. If you get open, there’s a good chance he sees you and he’s gonna find you and it’s going to be right on your tape. Just his consistency and his work ethic to stay that good is awesome. (He’s) the best player on our team, and it’s incredible to play with him.”

The New York Rangers got on the scoreboard with their own power-play goal 3:16 into the second period. Mika Zibanejad tipped home a shot by Artemi Panarin to make it 3-1.

Vasilevskiy was busy in the game’s opening minutes and remained steady across the final two periods. He finished with 39 saves on 40 shots and has now won seven of his last nine starts.

The Lightning goalie was particularly tasked in the second period, stopping 17 of 18 Rangers shots. Less than five minutes into the third period, Vasilevskiy stretched for a glove save on Alexis Lafrenière's in-close look and maintain a 3-1 lead.

Point added a second power-play goal with 4:20 left in the game, this time burying a backdoor pass from Guentzel in the right corner. Tampa Bay’s power play ended the night 3-for-4, their first game with multiple power-play goals since Jan. 24 in Chicago.

“Sometimes our power play throughout the year, it just gets a little stale and we get kind of standing around, and I think the last few games we’ve been doing that and teams have been able to just kind of sit on us and not really give us much,” Point said. “We had a little more movement, trying to get some creativity and let guys make plays. I think you saw tonight guys were looser and kind of more free to make the plays, and it worked out for us.”

Special teams success and saves make for a winning combination on most nights. Tampa Bay saw just that on Monday.

“Tonight, the power play was clearly the difference, and our goalie,” Cooper said.

Kucherov, Guentzel and Point each finished the night with three points on the same night Kucherov tied Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon for the NHL scoring lead with 115 points in 2024-25.

Tampa Bay will return to AMALIE Arena for a four-game homestand, one that opens with a 7 p.m. game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.

The Lightning are within two standings points of Toronto in the Atlantic Division before the Maple Leafs visit the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.

“We know it’s gonna be a huge game for our team,” Guentzel said. “Going back home in front of our fans, it’s going to be a playoff-like game, and obviously we’re really excited for that.”

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

1. Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (39 saves, win)

2. Brayden Point, TBL (2 goals, assist)

3. Nikita Kucherov, TBL (Goal, 2 assists)