Lightning Finnish with a Shorty

Brian Boyle took an interference call at the 18:34 mark in the third period with the scored tied 1-1.  The Rangers already had momentum after Dominick Moore tied the game just five minutes prior with his second goal of the season.  Prior to that a smooth penalty kill by the Rangers after a Ryan McDonagh penalty for interference. So now… with less then two minutes left if the Lightning can just kill this thing, get into the 3 on 3 wheel-away and grab the extra point we’re good… stay tuned…

The NY Rangers came in as the hottest team in the NHL winning nine in a row and  the Tampa Bay Lightning are happy to be home but  hobbled. It’s not good when your team is featured on the homepage of NHL.com because of the injury list. With Ryan Callahan, Tyler Johnson, Johnathan Drouin, Ondrej Palat and Cedric Paquette all injured,  fans had to look to the roster sheet to check out the names matching the new sweater numbers.  #46, #47, #53…. I get it the Crunch!

This Syracuse Lightning team is pretty impressive. Creating a lot of turn overs, fast to the puck. Digging in the corners.  Maybe it’s what the winning doctor ordered an unintentional lineup shakeup due to injuries.  Injuries a blessing in disguise?  Maybe…

At 14:47 of the first the Rangers became giving during this season to be thankful by turning the rubber over in the defensive zone.  Valterri Filppula picked up the mistake and passed to Alex Killorn.   Killorn showed his  thankfulness by beating Rangers Henrik “The King” Lundqvist with a shot from the high slot. 1-0 Lightning.

SIDE THOUGHT: I liked the word of the day by Andrej Palat…Trestna Lavice. That’s because I enjoy my time in there, reflecting.  Right Marek Zima?  I sent Marek a text during the game sharing that I learned a new word.

With 16:09 left in the final stanza,  Chris Kreider was awarded a penalty shot as he was ridden from behind by Andre Sustr. Kreider tried to go five hole, but Bishop closed it down. We were critical of the five being open twice against Florida, but not tonight.  Bishop keeps the lead for the Lightning.

With under seven minutes left former Bolt, Dominick Moore beats Ben Bishop. It was Moore’s 2nd goal of the season and the score is tied at one.

And now… with 1:26 left in regulation, the score tied 1-1 and the the red hot, winners of nine in a row Rangers are on the power play.

Then, The Lightning Finnish with a shorty!  Vantaa, Finland native Valterri Filppula scores a shorthanded goal with the assist from JT Brown, he’s fast.   A win!  A win!   The Lightning beat the NY Rangers to even their record at 9-9-3.