Tampa Bay Lightning surprisingly edge New York Rangers 4-3 in overtime -NHL Update
It was the almighty New York team against a struggling but humble Tampa Bay team but it turned out as the Lightning struck hard when they found the opportunity to edge the Rangers, 4-3, in an overtime decider on Friday night, March 2, 2012, at the Tampa
Bay Times Forum in Florida.
Rangers thought they were set to take the win and another two points, extending their lead over the other Eastern Conference teams, but Tampa Bay had other plans in mind.
"The start we had, we knew we were going to have an uphill battle and that's what we have right now," The National Hockey League’s (NHL) leading scorer, Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos said.
Entering the final period down a point against a team like New York Rangers is never easy but Tampa Bay demonstrated their classic comeback nature to force the game into an overtime extension and take it from there.
"This game was tough from start to finish," New York goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, said. "Yeah we had the 2-0 lead, but I don't think we deserved the 2-0 lead. It felt like they made it tough for us all night."
Artem Anisimov grabbed his 13th of the 2011-2012 NHL regular season on an assist from Ryan McDonagh midway throughout the opening period and Marian Gaborik took it a step further with a power play goal at 2:43 into the second.
New York did not know at the moment right then and there that Gaborik’s would be their last till the final moments of the third in an attempt to save themselves from a regulation loss.
Tom Pyatt kicked off Tampa Bay’s comeback with their first at 7:09 in the second followed by Teddy Purcell at 3:37 into the third and Steven Stamkos at 10:17 for his 45th of the season.
Brandon Dubinsky luckily got the equaliser for New York with less than four minutes to go but Ryan Malone’s game-winner 1:58 into overtime was what the Lightning had been looking for the whole time.
Tampa Bay has three straight wins under their belt and the next few could mean a playoff position for them as the season gets closer to ending every day. Lightning have the next against Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
New York is well up there but a match against Boston Bruins on Sunday will definitely be one to see as the battle for Eastern Conference supremacy continues.
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