Lightning at Rangers: Take care of the small things, and the large things (wins) will take care of themselves

Game Seventy-seven: Tampa Bay Lightning (44-26-9) at New York Rangers (36-33-7)

Time: 7:00 PM EST

Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City

TV/Stream/Radio: FDSNSUN, MSG, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning -142

Know the Opponents: Blue Shirt Banter

Story Lines and Notes

The Tampa Bay Lightning wrap up their final road trip of the night as they visit the New York Rangers in the World’s Most Famous Arena. What started off as a solid trip with a 4-1 win over the Islanders has sputtered a bit as the Bolts misfired on offense against the Senators in a 2-1 loss and against the Sabres in a 3-2 shoot-out loss. Is it a momentarily funk or a team limping to the finish line after an exhausting regular season?

We’ve seen the Lightning go through a couple of these lulls this year and, so far, they’ve been able to pull out of the offensive wobbles. What has been encouraging is that even when they are losing, they are playing generally solid defense. Even in their last two games, they’ve kept the puck out of their own net for the most part while limiting their opponents. Yes, on paper (and in the oddsmakers eyes) the Lightning should have won the last two games, but both Ottawa and Buffalo are on a bit of a roll right now.

The Senators, who everyone thought was locked into the first wildcard spot are on the doorstep of passing the slumping Panthers while Buffalo, who is out of the playoffs, are busy lowering their draft lottery odds by winning four in a row. Both teams took advantage of the Bolts mistakes while limiting the fallout from their own (and also getting outstanding goaltender performances in both games).

That brings us tonight and the New York Rangers, a team that seems to be actively refusing to claim a wildcard spot. They currently are the first team outside of the playoffs, but their deficit has grown to six points (with a game in hand of the Canadiens). If they want any hope of scratching their way into the post-season, they need to win tonight.

The Lightning will be facing a team that is practically in playoff mode right now and it will be up to the Bolts to match that intensity, something that they have struggled to do on occasion. Especially on occasions where they don’t have much to play for. Tampa Bay does have a chance to increase the distance between the second and third spot in the division standings while also decreasing the gap between them and the division-leading Maples Leafs to two points.

Therein lies something to play for. A two-point gap heading into Wednesday’s head-to-head match-up with Toronto means a Lightning win tonight puts them in position to pull level with them at the top of the standings. We’ve harped on the importance of winning the Atlantic this year (probably more so than the Lightning coaching staff) and they have a chance to make it happen.

In order to pick up the win, they will have to clean their game up a little. While they have played okay, some carelessness has crept into their game. Against Buffalo it was Nick Perbix taking his eye off the puck for a moment that led to a steal and a goal against. Then it was Victor Hedman taking a bad route on a Buffalo entry that led to a penalty and a power play goal against. Normally, the Lightning offense can overshadow the mistakes that happen in every game, but it’s not happening right now.

Honestly, it’s not a bad lesson to learn a couple of weeks out from the playoffs. In the post season, mistakes are magnified as scoring dips. So to have a reminder on the ice that execution is more important than outcome at this stage in the season could get the team in the right mind space for what’s going to happen in about ten days.

They need to get back to controlling the puck, making the simple plays on their breakouts, and building speed through the neutral zone. Once they’re in the zone, working the puck low to high to get shots off instead of forcing things through the middle of the ice will get them back into their groove as well.

The Rangers could be a good opponent to get their power play back on track again as well. It’s been a rough stretch on special teams for New York (honestly, they’re playing fine at 5v5) and the Bolts could take advantage of that. They haven’t won the special teams battle in a couple of games as their power play has gone dormant and their penalty kill has leaked a couple of goals.

A win tonight ends the road trip on a positive note and gets the Bolts back home where they can finish off the season on friendly ice. They just need to commit to focusing on the small things that lead to victories. Win the shift, win the period, win the game.

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New York Rangers

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