While the Tampa Bay Lightning officially are headed to the postseason for the eighth straight season, the New York Rangers are inching closer to missing the playoffs a year after being the NHL’s best team in the regular season.
The Lightning will look to move within two points of the Atlantic Division lead Monday night when they visit the Rangers, whose playoff chances are starting to dwindle.
Tampa Bay (44-26-6, 94 points) enters its final six games trailing the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Atlantic. It also is attempting to fend off the Florida Panthers to earn home-ice advantage in a potential postseason series against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
The Lightning won eight straight games from Feb. 4 to March 1 and are 17-6-2 in their past 25 contests. Tampa Bay has been held to three total goals over its past two games after scoring 23 times during a four-game winning streak.
On Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres, Brayden Point scored his 39th goal early in the second period but the Lightning gave up the lead in the third and were unable to score in the shootout. The 3-2 loss dropped the Lightning to 3-3-2 in their past eight road contests.
The Bolts were able to get a point due to a standout performance from backup goalie Jonas Johannson, who survived numerous defensive breakdowns in front of him and stopped 36 shots.
“I think (Johansson) had to make far too many great saves just to keep us in it,” Point said. “And I think that’s something that we need to clean up, especially come playoff time.”
The Lightning actually clinched when the Rangers delivered a highly lackluster performance in Saturday afternoon’s 4-0 loss at the New Jersey Devils, resulting in strong criticism from the ABC studio panel that included former New York captain Mark Messier.
The Rangers (36-33-7, 79 points) will play the Lightning twice in their final six games and also visit the Carolina Hurricanes and Panthers. New York trailed the Montreal Canadiens by four points for the second wild-card spot entering play on Sunday, with the latter facing the Nashville Predators later that night.
Against the Devils, New York struggled to generate many high-end scoring chances and continued to falter on the power play after earning consecutive wins over the Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks.
“Somehow, right now, we’re finding a way to lose, and it sucks. It sucks, especially in our situation,” New York’s Mika Zibanejad said. “We need every point. We need every win. We’re chasing, and we’re not helping ourselves.”
The Rangers were 0-for-2 on the power play Saturday and are 3-for-52 on the man advantage in their past 19 games. In the previous seven-game span, they were 5-for-15 from Feb. 1 to Feb. 23.
New York also allowed a power-play goal and a short-handed tally 87 seconds apart during the second period on Saturday. Opponents are 5-for-15 on the man advantage in the past five games and have scored three shorthanded goals against the struggling Rangers.
“The execution is certainly not there, but I think when you go on one of those slumps you start maybe trying to force the issue a little more,” New York defenseman Adam Fox said. “That could be the reason why we’re giving up chances more than ever, too.
“It’s not just that we’re not scoring. It’s, we’re not even generating any momentum from it.”
–Field Level Media
