Oct 11, 2022; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad (93) celebrates his second goal of the game against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
NHL: Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers
The New York Rangers start their 2022-23 NHL season with sweet revenge as they beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 on Tuesday night. This matchup was the very first on the league schedule, highlighting the rivalry that these two teams had in the Eastern Conference Finals last year where Tampa won the series 4-2. The “Bolts” proceeded to their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final where they eventually lost to the Colorado Avalanche. The Rangers came into that series without a loss to Tampa in the regular season. They then won the first two games at Madison Square Garden before losing the next four games to mark their elimination.
The Rangers did not seem to forget that series last year, as they were the more aggressive team in the contest. Leading of course was Mika Zibanejad, as he scored two goals in the contest to lift the Rangers ahead in the second period and again in the third period for good. His first goal shows how talented the Swede still is as he scored a short-handed goal with a beautiful back-hander on Andrey Vasilevskiy 3:25 into the period. Jacob Trouba had the vision to send Zibanejad into open ice, marking his first assist of the year in his first game as the Captain of the team. Mika’s second goal came 5:11 into the third on a perfectly planned one-time shot thanks to the vision of Artemi Panarin. Guess what, it was on the power play. Last year, the Rangers were 4th in power play percentage during the regular season, and it showed in the season opener.
Even the head coach of the Lightning, Jon Cooper, admitted what the difference was in the game. “Special teams was the difference… When you give them a short-handed goal and a power-play goal, you’re making it tough on yourself, and it ended up being the difference,” Cooper said. Tampa Bay had a moment on special teams when Steven Stamkos tied the game on a one-timer of his own off a pass from Nikita Kucherov 9:09 into the second period. Even after Tampa Bay leveled the game, New York was more active offensively, out-shooting the Lightning by double their amount (32-16) through the first two periods. Overall the Rangers outshot the Lightning 39-26.
Barclay Goodrow provided the cherry on top with his goal 11:00 into the third period on a deflection from a Ryan Lindgren shot at the point. That was the lone even-strength goal of the contest, but that moment continues to illustrate the net-front presence that the Rangers continue to use, led by their goal-scorer Chris Kreider. He was quiet in this game, but he did provide the second assist in Zibanejad’s power-play goal.
The “Broadway Blueshirts” were known to be a constant threat on special teams last year and have carried that strength into this year. The stars shined brighter on the Rangers roster than they did on the Lightning roster. They carry their momentum from the revenge game to their first road trip as they gear up for two away games. One of their youngsters, RW Vitaly Kravtsov, went down after a big hit from Victor Hedman and he was ruled out for the next couple of games with an upper-body injury. Dryden Hunt is expected to replace him on the squad. Tonight they play the Minnesota Wild with the Winnipeg Jets awaiting them on Friday night. Both games are scheduled for puck drop at 8:00 PM EST.
