Derek Stepan’s goal with a little over three minutes to play broke a 2-2 tie as the New York Rangers rallied in the final period to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2 on Saturday night in Tampa.
Stepan assisted on the goal that tied the game at 2 earlier in the third period. After Ryan Callahan nudged Marc-Andre Bergeron off the puck in the Lightning zone, Stepan collected the loose puck and moved in on Lightning goalie Mathieu Garon. Stepan’s shot was saved by Garon, but the rebound trickled out to Artem Anisimov, who backhanded it into an open net.
Then with just 3:19 to play, Stepan tallied the game-winning goal on a scramble in front of the Lightning net. After winning a faceoff, Stepan dumped the puck back to Ryan McDonagh, whose shot from the point hit a Lightning player and rolled toward the crease. Anisimov took possession and tried to beat Garon with a backhander to the far post. Garon stopped it, but the puck popped back out in front of the net. Stepan picked it up and, with Garon still down from stopping Anisimov, shot it over the Lightning goalie and past Nate Thompson for a 3-2 lead.
Brad Richards scored an empty-net goal to seal the win, and Ruslan Fedotenko also scored for New York. Steve Downie and Tom Pyatt tallied for the Lightning, who have 12 regulation losses already this season after having only 25 all of last season. Tampa Bay has lost 7 of their last 10 and are now in fourth place in the Southeast Division.