Grabner notches hat trick, Rangers shred Lightning
NEW YORK -- Michael Grabner had a hat trick and Antti Raanta stopped 31 shots as the New York Rangers blitzed the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-1 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.
Grabner scored his final two goals in the third period, beating Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop on a breakaway midway through the period before capping the game's scoring with 5:13 remaining by finishing a perfect pass from center Kevin Hayes (three assists).
Left wingers Rick Nash, Jimmy Vesey and J.T. Miller also scored for the Rangers.
Bishop allowed six goals on 37 shots. Center Steven Stamkos prevented the shutout by scoring with 3:24 remaining.
The Rangers (6-3-0) have won four of five and have yet to lose two straight games this season.
The Lightning (5-4-0) have lost three straight in regulation and looked sluggish from the outset after playing Saturday night against the New Jersey Devils.
Bishop stemmed the tide in the first period, stopping all 16 shots he faced to keep the game scoreless. In the second period, however, the dam crumbled.
New York scored four second-period goals on 15 shots, starting with Nash's breakaway goal at 4:45. Defenseman Nick Holden poked the puck ahead to Nash after the Lightning mishandled it in the neutral zone, which led to Nash whistling a wrist shot over Bishop's glove to make it 1-0.
Grabner's goal at 6:42 was the result of surgical passing in the offensive zone. Hayes hit defenseman Brady Skjei with a pass in the corner, then Skjei snapped a cross-ice pass to Grabner, who buried a one-timer from the right circle into a wide-open net.
Vesey scored his fifth goal 22 seconds later off a 2-on-1 that suddenly developed just inside the Lightning blue line. After taking the feed from Nash, Vesey fired a quick shot that whizzed past the blocker side of Bishop to put the Rangers on top 3-0.
Miller pushed the lead to 4-0 with 1:50 remaining off yet another odd-man rush. Hayes opted to shoot from the left faceoff circle and Miller drove the net to bang the rebound through Bishop for his third goal.
NOTES: Lightning RW Ryan Callahan made his season debut after missing the first eight games while recovering from offseason hip surgery. ... Lightning RW Nikita Kucherov was back in the lineup after missing Saturday's game against the New Jersey Devils with an upper-body injury. ... Lightning RW J.T. Brown was a healthy scratch. ... Rangers LW Chris Kreider (neck spasms) missed his fourth straight game but coach Alain Vigneault said he expects to return to the lineup Tuesday. ... Rangers D Adam Clendening was a healthy scratch.