. Alexandar Georgiev stopped 29 shots.Nikita Kucherov had Tampa Bay's goal and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 38 saves.The game was tight for the first 53 minutes with each goalie making some big stops. However, the Rangers took the lead when Buchnevich sent a pass through traffic toward the middle for a streaking Chytil, called up from Hartford of the AHL on Monday, and he reached his stick forward and tipped the puck past Vasilevskiy with 7:14 left.Fox then made it 3-1 as he knocked in the rebound of a shot by Chris Kreider for his first NHL goal with 2:36 remaining.The Lightning pulled Vasilevskiy for an extra skater with about 1 1/2 minutes to go, but Strome scored an empty-netter with 46 seconds left to seal the win.New York outshot Tampa Bay 14-11 in each of the first two periods. The Lightning took the lead late in the first period, and the Rangers tied on a fortuitous deflection midway through the second.Penalties on Mathieu Joseph and Ondrej Palat gave the Rangers a 5-on-3 advantage for 20 seconds near the midpoint of the second. Shortly after the first penalty expired, Strome got the puck from Artemi Panarin and sent a pass from the left doorstep back to Kakko in the right circle, and the Finnish rookie fired at the goal. It was stopped by Vasilevskiy but the rebound went to the right and deflected off defenseman Braydon Coburn's left skate and back in for Kakko's second career goal - first on a power play - at 9:37.DeAngelo nearly gave New York the lead late in the middle period, but his shot from the left side on a rush went off Vasilevskiy's blocker and then the post and away.The opening minutes of the game featured some physical exchanges. There was a fight between the Rangers' Michael Haley and the Lightning's Patrick Maroon, with Haley dropping Maroon with a right hook to the side of the head - drawing loud cheers from the home crowd. Minutes later, Tampa Bay's Luke Witkowski shoved New York rookie defenseman Ryan Lindgren sliding into the boards, resulting in some pushing and shoving between several players. Witkowski received a penalty for boarding on the play.Kucherov gave the Lightning the lead with 4:16 left in the opening period. Brayden Point brought the puck up the right side and, as he skated past the goal line, sent a pass back to his left for Kucherov who was trailing the play and Kucherov put it into the left side with Georgiev out of position for his fourth.NOTES: Lightning D Kevin Shattenkirk was back at Madison Square Garden for the first time since having the last two seasons of his contract bought out the Rangers during the offseason and subsequently signing with Tampa Bay. The New Rochelle native had seven goals and 44 assists in 119 games over two seasons with the Rangers. ... Maroon headed to the locker room shortly after going to the penalty box after his fight with Haley, and did not return to the game. ... The Rangers honored former D Dan Girardi before the game. Girardi, who retired in the offseason, had 46 goals and 184 assists in 11 seasons in New York before spending two seasons with the Lightning and totaling 10 goals and 24 assists. Girardi came out on the ice, accompanied by his wife and two children, and dropped the ceremonial first puck. ... C Mika Zibanejad, who leads the Rangers with 11 points, sat out with an upper body injury sustained in first period of 7-4 loss to Boston on Sunday night. ... New York D Marc Staal was a healthy scratch for the first time in his career. ... Strome has a point in five straight games, with three goals and five assists in that stretch. He also now has four goals and seven assists in 18 career games against the Lightning.UP NEXTLightning: At New Jersey on Wednesday night.Rangers: At Nashville on Saturday night.---Follow Vin Cherwoo at www.twitter.com/VinCherwoo---More NHL: www.apnews.com/NHL and www.twitter.com/-Sports)
Losing two of three games on a rare homestand means the Tampa Bay Lightning aren't in the best of moods heading into another epic road trip. But at least the Lightning are in a better spot than the New York Rangers.The Lightning will begin a three-game road trip Tuesday night when they visit the reeling Rangers.Both teams were off Monday after absorbing losses in their most recent games. The Lightning fell to the Nashville Predators, 3-2, in overtime on Saturday. The Rangers continued a five-game homestand Sunday, when they were routed by the Boston Bruins, 7-4.The loss to the Predators brought to an end the only three-game homestand the Lightning will enjoy in the first seven weeks of the season. Tampa Bay, which opened the season at home against the Florida Panthers before embarking on a six-game road trip, will visit a trio of New York-based teams -- the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday and the New York Islanders on Friday -- before heading to Sweden for the NHL's "Global Series," a pair of games against the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 8-9."This year so far has been tough, as far as the schedule and the grind," Lightning center Steven Stamkos told reporters. "It sucks. It's tough. But we know it's coming." While the herky-jerky schedule may have played a role in the Lightning's slow start -- Tampa Bay is 5-3-2 with three losses by one goal and another by two goals -- the Rangers are out of excuses for their early stumbles.The loss to the Bruins was the sixth in the last seven games (1-5-1) for the Rangers, who have lost by three goals four times. New York's seven points are tied for the second-fewest in the NHL, ahead of only the Metropolitan Division rival Devils.Following Sunday's loss -- when the Bruins scored five unanswered goals spanning the second and third periods -- head coach David Quinn criticized the Rangers' effort and resiliency."I think part of being a professional athlete is handling adversity and understanding consistent battle level gives you a chance to have success," Quinn told reporters. "And I think we have guys that don't fully understand that. They think the game should be played a different way, and it should be a skill game. Skill certainly is a huge component of this game, but if you have no battle, I don't care how skilled you are, you're not going to be productive." Quinn said backup goalie Alexandar Georgiev will start Tuesday after taking the loss in relief of starter Henrik Lundqvist on Sunday. Lundqvist was pulled after giving up four goals in the second period but Georgiev, who allowed two goals in the third, was saddled with the defeat because the Bruins scored the fifth goal against him.The Lightning's number one goalie, Andrei Vasilevskiy, will likely return to the net after backup Curtis McElhinney started and took the loss against the Predators. Vasilevskiy made his most recent appearance last Wednesday, when he earned the win after stopping 37 shots as Tampa Bay beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2.Georgiev is 0-0-1 in two career games against the Lightning. Vasilevskiy is 2-1-2 in five games against the Rangers.--Field Level Media
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