The New York Rangers became the first team to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in back-to-back playoff games since 2019, taking a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference final series.
The Tampa Bay Lightning had not lost consecutive playoff games since 2019 compiling a streak of 17 straight bounce-back victories.
Then they played the New York Rangers.
The Rangers stunned the Lightning once again on Friday night, beating the back-to-back Stanley Cup champions by a score of 3-2 to take a commanding 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference final series.
For the second straight game, the Lightning just could not muster anything against a stingy Rangers club, scoring just two goals on a total of 31 shots that was inflated somewhat by a strong late-game push.
Once again, Igor Shesterkin was his typical unflappable self, shutting down any Lighting offense for the bulk of the game before regaining his composure to lead the Rangers to victory after Nick Paul scored with two minutes remaining to pull Tampa within one.
The Rangers once again got key contributions from their top players, with Chris Kreider and Adam Fox putting up two assists apiece, Mika Zibanejad scoring his ninth goal of the playoffs, and the so-called "Kid Line" of Filip Chytil, Alexis Lafreniere, and Kappo Kakko working wonders in the offensive zone to get Kakko his second career playoff goal.
On Tampa's end, Nikita Kucherov was one of the lone bright spots in a losing effort, chipping in a goal and an assist to give the Lightning every chance to even the series.
Alas, it was not to be.
With the Rangers having dispelled the narrative that the Lightning are unflappable after a loss, all bets are off as the series now shifts over to Tampa Bay. Home-ice advantage has been so crucial in these playoffs thus far, especially for the Rangers given their sterling record at Madison Square Garden, which means venturing on the road to do battle with a visibly frustrated Lightning team will be the greatest challenge Gerrard Gallant's group has faced to date.
Despite most people counting out the Rangers due to their penchant for being out-shot and out-chanced in the underlying numbers on a nightly basis, this team has managed to do nothing but excel all postseason long.
The series may be far from over. But the Rangers have put their stamp on it early on.