It wasn’t perfect, but the New York Rangers’ continued to click as they beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-3 on the road.
Artemi Panarin led the way with four assists. Vincent Trocheck, playing in his second game since returning from an upper body injury, scored his first two goals of the season. Will Cuylle bookended the Rangers’ onslaught with the club’s first and seventh goals of the evening.
The Rangers have now won six of their last eight games and have improved to 8-1-1 on the road this season. They’ve accrued 17 points in their first 10 road games, a franchise-best mark, surpassing the 1931-32 team (16 points).
A wild first period
The Rangers and Lightning combined for seven goals in the first period, the most since the Montreal Canadiens and Florida Panthers combined for 10 in the opening frame on March 16, 2023.
It was the first time the Rangers had scored four goals in the first period since April 10 against the New York Islanders and the fifth time since the 2021-22 season.
Cuylle put in a rebound off the boards from an Adam Fox shot just 1:09 in. A couple of minutes later, Mika Zibanejad picked off a Nikita Kucherov pass in the neutral zone, then found J.T. Miller driving to the net.
Alexis Lafrenière and Will Borgen picked up New York’s third and fourth goals, respectively, as the Rangers scored four goals on eight shots in the first period. The Lightning kept up, tallying three goals on 10 shots.
Rangers’ goal outburst continues
The Rangers have now scored 13 goals in their last two games, as they potted six against the Nashville Predators on Monday night for their first win at Madison Square Garden this season.
New York’s seven goals on Wednesday were the most they’d scored against the Lightning since January 19, 2010.
Trocheck padded the Rangers’ lead late in the second period, as he received a cross-seam pass from Panarin and beat a falling Andrei Vasilevskiy for his first goal of the season. In the third, Trocheck beat backup goalie Jonas Johansson — who had replaced Vasilevskiy after he allowed five goals on 13 shots — with a wrist shot from the high slot.
Cuylle added an empty-netter with just over two minutes to play, sealing the 7-3 win.
Rangers withstand Lightning pressure
A notable observation from this game is that the Rangers were statistically outplayed by the Lightning throughout it.
According to Natural Stat Trick, Tampa Bay led in shot attempts, high-danger scoring chances, and expected goals for in all three periods, and outshot New York 36-21.
One of these stretches came late in the third period, while the Rangers killed off an Adam Fox hooking penalty, and the Lightning pulled Johansson for an extended man advantage. In the final frame, Tampa Bay managed a game-high 14 shots, four high-danger chances, and nearly 64% of the expected goal share.
