With their backs against the wall, the New York Rangers exploded for five goals in the third period to force a Game 7 for the second straight series this postseason as they defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-3 at Amalie Arena.
The Bolts are going to a Game 7 for the second time in the playoffs as well, but this will be the first time they will have to win a Game 7 on the road. New York came back from a 3-1 deficit in the second round against Washington with two overtime wins in Games 5 and 7 at Madison Square Garden.
In Tuesday’s Game 6, the Rangers scored the first two goals and didn’t allow the Lightning to claw their way back into the game. Derick Brassard scored his first of five points on the night with a backhanded goal at 3:36 of the opening period.
Brassard scored three goals on the night to increase his playoff goal total to nine. The first of his two assists came on New York’s second tally of the night at 15:30 when Keith Yandle tipped a shot from Brassard past Ben Bishop.
Ryan Callahan did get the home team on the scoreboard less than two minutes after Yandle scored, when Ryan Callahan scored a power play goal on former teammate Henrik Lundqvist.
The score remained 2-1 in favor of New York heading into the third period. The second frame saw no scoring and two penalties taken by Tampa Bay. The third period saw the Rangers explode for five goals. The first came at 3:02 when J.T. Miller scored the first of three points in the third period when he fired a wrister past Bishop.
Tampa Bay bench boss Jon Cooper pulled Bishop in favor of Andrei Vasilevskiy after Bishop allowed two goals in a span of 1:14 in the third and the score was 5-1. The fifth goal was the second of the night from Brassard at 7:14.
Vasilevskiy made six saves on seven shots in relief. The goal he allowed came from Rick Nash on the power play at 10:21.
Tampa Bay did get two goals past Lundqvist after Vasilevskiy entered the contest. Nikita Kucherov scored his eighth and ninth goals of the postseason at 7:50 and 13:21 respectively.
The final tally of the night came when Brassard completed the hat trick with an empty netter with 1:41 remaining.
Both teams went 1/3 on the power play, and Lundqvist earned the win with 36 saves on 39 shots. Bishop turned away 21 of 26 shots.
Game 7 will take place Friday night at 8 p.m. ET on NBCSN.
