Miller's OT goal takes Rangers past Lightning
TAMPA, Fla. -- J.T. Miller scored the winning goal 1:19 into overtime as the New York Rangers picked up their first road win of the season, surprising the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 2-1 victory on Thursday.
Miller swept in front of the net and beat goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made 33 saves in regulation. Miller scored his third goal of the season moments after intercepting a wraparound attempt by Nikita Kucherov.
New York (5-7-2) had been 0-3-0 away from home this season, while the Lightning (10-2-2) fell to 6-1-1 at home.
The Lightning were able to overcome a slew of turnovers in their own zone, with Vasilevskiy making more than his share of saves on breakaways from errant passes.
Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist stopped 27 shots.
The defensive stalemate was a surprising change of pace after the Lightning won an 8-5 game at Florida on Tuesday and the Rangers won 6-4 against Vegas.
Tampa Bay appeared to take a 2-1 lead early in the third, but Alex Killorn's goal was wiped out on goalie interference. The Lightning challenged the call, but a review confirmed that Gabriel Dumont was in the crease.
The Lightning tied the game in the second period on just their second short-handed goal of the season. Yanni Gourde converted a two-on-one on a pass from defenseman Victor Hedman to beat Lundqvist on the stick side at 11:00. The goal was Gourde's third of the season and the first short-handed goal allowed by the Rangers this season.
New York led 1-0 after the first period, scoring on a three-on-one break during four-on-four play at 18:34. Chris Kreider scored his fourth goal of the season on passes from Mika Zibanejad and Brady Skjei.
Tampa Bay started slowly, managing only two shots on goal in the first 10 minutes. The Rangers outshot the Lightning 13-8 in the opening period, but led just 1-0 thanks to strong play by Vasilevskiy, who stopped Miller on an odd-man rush and Kevin Shattenkirk on a breakaway.
NOTES: Lightning C Cedric Paquette missed a seventh consecutive game with an upper-body injury, while D Slater Koekkoek and D Andrej Sustr were healthy scratches. ... The Rangers had D Brendan Smith and C Paul Carey as healthy scratches. ... Tampa Bay stays home to play Columbus on Saturday before a three-game trip to California next week, while New York plays at Florida on Saturday before returning home for its next three games.