Lightning at Rangers
One night after punching their ticket to the postseason, the New York Rangers look to gain some momentum when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. The Rangers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 victory at Columbus to seal a spot in the playoffs and move within three points of Pittsburgh for second place in the Metropolitan Division.
Derek Stepan continued his hot streak with a goal and an assist, pushing his total to 11 points over the last seven games, for the Rangers as they attempt to avenge their loss to Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference final last spring. The Lightning still are a point away from clinching a playoff spot after falling 5-2 at the New York Islanders on Monday as they soldier on without captain Steven Stamkos – out 1-to-3 months with a blood clot – and defenseman Anton Stralman (broken fibula). “Those guys are irreplaceable, so our depth is going to be tested,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper told the Tampa Tribune. “Two pretty big pieces of the puzzle. Now we really have to dig our heels in and pick those guys up.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, Sportsnet, TVA, MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (45-29-5): Nikita Kucherov notched an assist Monday to edge past Stamkos for the team lead in points with 65. Defenseman Victor Hedman was an uncharacteristic minus-3 against the Islanders but recorded his 10th goal of the season while Alex Killorn also scored to become the fourth player on the team to reach 40 points. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 13 shots he faced Monday in relief of Ben Bishop, who was pulled for only the second time this season.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (44-26-9): Captain Ryan McDonagh, who registered an assist in each of the previous two games, suffered an apparent hand injury Monday and is questionable to face Tampa Bay. Stepan has put up big numbers of late along with Chris Kreider, who has recorded four goals and three assists over his last five contests. Mats Zuccarello scored for the fourth time in seven games Monday to push his total to 26 goals and move past Derick Brassard (58) for the team lead with 59 points.
OVERTIME
1. New York D Keith Yandle, a pending unrestricted free agent, leads the team with 40 assists and has notched five in his last six games.
2. Tampa Bay LW Jonathan Drouin, who was expected to be recalled from the American Hockey League due to Stamkos’ injury, is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
3. The Lightning won the last three games at New York in the 2015 conference final, posting shutouts in Games 5 and 7.