Rangers on brink of elimination after 3-1 loss to Lightning

The Rangers will have to win on the road again to stay alive.Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev had a goal and an assist in Thursday night’s 3-1 Rangers loss at the Garden, snapping an eight-game Blueshirts win streak at home this postseason.Ondrej Palat’s redirect of Sergachev’s 55-foot wrist shot at 18:10 of the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and quieted the crowd, before Brandon Hagel added an empty netter at 19:01.The reigning two-time Stanley Cup champion Lightning now lead this Eastern Conference Final series, 3-2, with Game 6 set for Saturday night at Tampa’s Amalie Arena.“It definitely stings,” defenseman Jacob Trouba said of the loss. “This series isn’t over. We’ve just gotta go to Tampa and win a game.”The Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin (24 saves) was screened on both of Sergachev’s goals, including a 51-foot wrister in the second period with three Rangers in the goalie’s sight line.Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy (24 saves) made the saves of Thursday’s game at 10:21 and 10:23 of the third period with the game tied at one.He used his stick to stop Adam Fox’s wrister over his right-hand blocker, then stretched back across the crease to make an incredible left pad save on Ryan Lindgren coming back in front with a rebound.About four minutes later, Rangers second-line center Ryan Strome then blew an amazing scoring chance off terrific passes from Artemi Panarin and Andrew Copp. Strome just couldn’t sweep his stick quickly enough to guide the puck in from the doorstep.“Maybe we just didn’t shoot enough,” Panarin said, when asked if the Rangers had overpassed in the game. “As you saw, Copp had a great pass, there was an empty net, and Strome just missed a little. So we didn’t realize that chance. It’s hard to say. We just couldn’t score.”Tampa has won three straight in response to the Rangers taking the first two games. The Blueshirts are only 2-7 on the road in the postseason. But their two wins did come in Game 7s at Pittsburgh and Carolina, respectively, in elimination scenarios.So there’s reason for hope.Igor will have to pull a rabbit out of his helmet on Saturday. (Adam Hunger/AP)“We’ve been down 3-2 every series so far, so we’ll have to have a level of desperation,” Copp said. “I think the level of confidence in having done it before is bigger than [how daunting it is] to do it again.”The Rangers hadn’t lost at home since May 3, a 4-3 overtime defeat to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of their first round series. Their backs are now against the wall again, and if they can pull it out in Tampa, they’ll have home ice for Game 7 on Tuesday night.Thursday’s result was especially disappointing after the positive pregame news that injured top-nine centers Strome and Filip Chytil would both be in the lineup.Strome had missed Game 4, and Chytil had left that 4-1 loss in the second period with an upper body injury. Gallant scratched fourth-line winger Ryan Reaves and kept both Kevin Rooney and Tyler Motte in the lineup seemingly as insurance for one of his top guys going down again.High-flying wingers Chris Kreider and Panarin had strong first periods to help their team play with pace and possession out of the gate following two straight disappointing defeats in Tampa in Games 3 and 4.The Rangers just didn’t find the back of the net enough.The dynamic defenseman Fox looked hobbled, too. He wasn’t moving his feet, and it seemed obvious he was playing through something.“There were a few where we should have hit the open net and it just jumped over our sticks,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “Tough to lose that way at the end, but that’s the way she goes.”Defensemen Lindgren and Sergachev both scored unassisted for the Rangers and Lightning in the second period, respectively, to send the game to the third knotted up at 1-1.Lindgren caught Vasilevskiy off guard from the left boards 10:29 in, pinching to fire a quick shot from the half wall over the Tampa goalie’s right blocker shoulder for a 1-0 Ranger lead.The home team’s penalty kill also snuffed out two Lightning power plays compared to one scoreless Blueshirt man advantage in the second, which led to a 13-8 Tampa shot advantage.One Tampa power play was earned on a questionable hooking call against K’Andre Miller by referee Eric Furlatt at 11:07.Gallant said he thought the Rangers deserved a few more whistles than they received.“I do,” he said. “I really do.”Indeed, Tampa defenseman Jan Rutta had gotten away with a hold on Rangers winger Kaapo Kakko on the forecheck in the third period.The smooth-skating Sergachev knotted the game at one apiece 17:34 into the second period, however, with a 51-foot wrist shot from the point. Shesterkin was screened by three of his Ranger teammates, and the shot beat him low to the right corner past his left pad.The Pinstripe ExpressWeeklyThe Daily News sports editors handpick the week’s best Yankees stories from our award-winning columnists and beat writers. Delivered to your inbox every Wednesday. The Rangers had controlled the puck a lot in the first period, but they had no goals to show for it.They outshot the Lightning, 8-3, in the first 20 minutes, and all three of their top lines generated good offensive zone time and chances.Panarin and Kreider both created offense, and Chytil pushed a tic-tac-toe pass from Kakko just wide off the rush.Referees Wes McCauley and Furlatt swallowed their whistles on an obvious Corey Perry neutral zone trip of Trouba, however, denying the home team a much-needed early power play.Tampa generated rush chances to keep the Blueshirts honest, too.Miller slid early in the first to break up a 2-on-1 Lightning rush. Nikita Kucherov and Nick Paul both hit posts on sharp shots that had beaten Shesterkin. And Pierre-Edouard Bellemare missed the net point blank from the low slot late in the first off a feed from Pat Maroon.But the Lightning eventually broke through, and now the Rangers are on the brink.



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