It was Mika Zibanejad, again, who capitalized on the 3-on-3 overtime to lift the New York Rangers past the Tampa Bay Lightning.
- New York Rangers 1 (42-22-2, 86 pts)
- Tampa Bay Lightning 0 (30-26-9, 69 pts)
- NHL, Final, Box Score
- Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Did that mean they played brilliant hockey? No, absolutely not.
New York surrendered 38 shots on the night. However, Antti Raanta turned in, perhaps, the Rangers best goaltending performance of the season in the Blueshirts 1-0 overtime win.
The only goal came via Mika Zibanejad, the man who seems to now have the knack for scoring the OT goal. He was setup by captain Ryan McDonagh:
You are just a miserable grouch if you can't at least enjoy the 3-on-3 overtime. Zibanejad, #NYR win. pic.twitter.com/qT0HAm8XlX
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) March 7, 2017
There was only one goal scored thanks to the goalies and just like Raanta, Tampa’s Andrei Vasilevskiy (now the clear No. 1 with Ben Bishop out of town), was equally brilliant. He stopped 33 of the 34 shots he was tasked with.
After losing three of four games and struggling mightily, New York bounced back in a major way. Some will point to the aggression they played with. Some of this aggression was spearheaded by Tanner Glass who not only played his first game in the NHL this season, but made the most of his early by dropping the gloves:
It's as if those who say "Tanner Glass does nothing" has never been a part of a sports team. They just don't UNDERSTAND the team feel. #NYR pic.twitter.com/IVJjDeK3av
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) March 7, 2017
Tonight, though, was Raanta’s night. He was superb.
Now sitting with a cool 86 points, the Rangers will next take on the Panters in Sunrise Tuesday (tomorrow) night.
.@ARaanta31 with the Broadway Hat after his 38-save shutout. #NYR pic.twitter.com/g0qWS7oHi9
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 7, 2017
Great way to start the road trip for #NYR! pic.twitter.com/5BCUsjC3TJ
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 7, 2017
#NYR welcome back Tanner pic.twitter.com/Z63lhDMPX0
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) March 7, 2017
Up, up & away. #NYRvsTBL pic.twitter.com/Em0LtiBxsg
— #VL4 (@TBLightning) March 7, 2017