Rangers Ground the Lightning After Wild First Period

Tampa, FL- After earning their first home win of the season, the New York Rangers headed toward Western Florida as they were ready to face the Tampa Bay Lightning. While the Bolts were missing several players, the Rangers began with an amazing start, traded goals early, but took complete control in the final two periods as they knocked off the Lightning by a final score of seven to three.

Four Goals in 6:59

Cuylle gets a favorable bounce on the power play

The Rangers get the first power play of the game as Artemi Panarin had the puck along the near boards, passed it back to Adam Fox at the near point. He snapped a shot that deflected off a Lightning player, then off the backboards, and ricocheted back to Will Cuylle in front, who scored at 1:09.

Lucky deflection off the defender

The Rangers made it a two-goal lead as the Lightning’s Eric Cernak tried a cross-ice pass from the near boards, which Mika Zibanejad intercepted. Skated down the near side, he tried to pass the puck to J.T. Miller, but it hit the skate of the Lightning player, and in at 3:31 of the first period.

Tampa finally gets one

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper called his only timeout and read the riot act to his team after the lackluster start. Jack Finley at the far boards tied up Adam Edstrom, then made the back pass to Curtis Douglas. Then Douglas Sprung Scott Sabourin with a rush up the ice and snapped a hard shot at 6:04 of the first period

A big hit leads to a goal

The Lightning were in the Rangers’ zone, but Carson Soucy saw a chance to lay a big hit on Brandon Hagel. Then, taking the loose puck, he gave it to Panarin down the near side, made the cross-ice pass to Alexis Lafreniere, and he snapped the shot to make it a two-goal game again at 7:08 of the first period.

Three more goals on the back end

The Lightning gets a second

At the far corner, the Lightning are controlling the puck and moving it up the far boards. Oliver Bjorkstrand leaves it for Zemgus Girgensons. He gives it to Yanni Gourde, who took the shot but was stopped. A juicy rebound was available for Girgensons, and he skated in to put it home at 13:59 of the first period.

Borgen gets a deflection

Soucy at the near corner skated with the puck around the boards and behind the net. He tried to give the puck to Will Borgen, but he lost the puck to a Lightning player. Borgen found a way to get it back by stealing it off the stick, skated to the slot, and the shot took a deflection and went in at 16:20 of the first period.

Guentzel goes Short Handed

The Rangers went on the power play, but lost the puck to J.J. Moser. He sprung Jake Guentzel down the far side, got inside the far faceoff circle, and snapped a shot to cut the deficit again to a goal at 17:32. After an amazing first period, a combined seven goals were scored to make everyone excited.

Trocheck gets a freebee

A battle in the far corner inside the Rangers’ zone as Vladislav Gavrikov took the puck away and passed it out toward Panarin. The Rangers went on a three-on-two, made a cross-ice pass to Vincent Trocheck, then Alexander Vasilevskiy, who tried to play the puck, lost an edge, and fell. Trocheck had a free shot and scored his first of the season at 18:19 of the second period.

Trocheck gets his second

Another goal for Trocheck as the Rangers skated hard out of their zone. Panarin was able to get into the zone, then made the pass to Urho Vaakanainen at the near point. He saw Trocheck trail the play and gave him the puck at the far side. Snapped the shot inside the far post and scored his second of the game at 5:03 of the third period.

Cuylle’s second, and they tied a record

With over four minutes left in the third period, the Lightning were on a power play and afterwards kept Vasilevskiy on the bench, going with six skaters. Eventually, the Rangers broke out of their zone, as Fox flipped the puck out, Cuylle skated to the puck inside the Lightning zone, and quickly scored the empty net at 17:49 of the third period.

This is the first time they have scored seven goals against the Lightning since the last game they did it on November 20, 2009. Igor Shesterkin made 31 saves out of 34 shots on goal. The Rangers are now on a two-game winning streak, and they will be flying back north, but to the state of Ohio, to face the Columbus Blue Jackets.

ROAD WARRIORS: The Rangers improved to 8-1-1 on the road this season and overall have won six of their last eight games. The Rangers’ 17 points through their first 10 road games of the season are the most in franchise history, surpassing the original mark of 16 in 1931-32. The last time an NHL team had 17+ points in their first 10 road games was during the 2023-24 season (LAK – 20 PTS, 10-0-0 & DAL – 17 PTS, 8-1-1).

SEVEN GOALS: The Blueshirts scored seven goals against the Lightning, the most they’ve scored since Apr. 10, 2025, at NYI.

FOUR IN THE FIRST: The Rangers scored four goals in the first period of a game for the first time since Apr. 10, 2025, at NYI and the fifth time since the 2021-22 season. The Blueshirts are one of three teams in the league this season to tally four or more goals in the first period.

MULTI-POINT MAYHEM: Four different Rangers tallied multi-point games against the Lightning (Artemi Panarin – 4, Will Cuylle – 2, Adam Fox – 2, Vincent Trocheck – 2).

ARTEMI PANARIN: Tallied his fourth multi-point game and second four-point game of the season. Among all NHL skaters, his two games with four points are tied for the league lead, and his three games with three or more points are tied for fourth. He has nine points in his last four games (3G-6A), and his 16 points this season rank first on the Rangers.

VINCENT TROCHECK: Scored his first two goals of the season and has four points (2G-2A) in his two games back in the lineup after missing 14 games with injury.

WILL CUYLLE: opened the scoring for New York with his third power play goal of the season, establishing a career season-high, and tallied his second multi-point game of the season. He has nine points through his last nine games (3G-6A), and leads the Rangers in goals (6) and power play goals (3).

ALEXIS LAFRENIERE: Has scored a goal in back-to-back games and has tallied three goals in his last four games. He has points in seven of his last 10 games (3G-7A).

WILL BORGEN: Notched his first goal of the season.

URHO VAAKANAINEN: Skated in his 200th career NHL game and tallied an assist on Vincent Trocheck’s second goal of the evening.

New York Rangers News:

• Rangers Finally Win at Home, Score Six Goals in Victory over Predators
• Rangers Call Up Gabe Perreault from Hartford
• Milestones and Moments Night at Madison Square Garden

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