TAMPA, Fla. — It was a night for the sick, tired and weary to exhale.
A chance for the most scrutinized members of the New York Rangers to quiet the commentary.
You had Marty St. Louis scoring his first goal in 16 playoff games. You had Rick Nash doubling his output with two goals. And after a tough couple outings in this Eastern Conference final, you had Henrik Lundqvist looking like, well, Henrik Lundqvist once again.
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“It felt good,” St. Louis said after Friday’s 5-1 win over Tampa. “I mean, you scored a goal, you get a second wind, you’re not as tired. The feeling is great and I think the rest of your game sometimes just comes together after that.”
Yes, this is a tight series.
Tied 2-2 heading back to Madison Square Garden on Sunday night and nobody should be surprised.
The resilient Rangers have new life after toughing out a Game 4 that was much closer than the final score suggested. The emergence of a couple struggling players vastly improves their outlook — to say nothing of their confidence, which should be sky high after putting 10 pucks behind Ben Bishop during the two games in Tampa.
“It’s frustrating when you feel like you’re letting the team down and you’re struggling,” said Nash. “You feel it. I’m trying to do everything I can offensively and tonight I got some bounces and they went in.”
For all intents and purposes, the game was won in an unusual second period.
Nash had the Rangers ahead 1-0, but Tampa Bay was absolutely dominating the middle frame. When captain Steven Stamkos tied the score at 11:30, the Lightning held an 11-1 advantage on the shot clock.
However, New York managed a quick answer, with Chris Kreider banging in a rebound and Keith Yandle getting credit for a goal after his point shot caromed off Victor Hedman’s leg and in.
That put Tampa behind 3-1 at the end of a period where coach Jon Cooper believes they would have left with a lead “nine times of 10.”
“People are going to wake up in the morning and look at the box score and say, ‘Oh, wow, Tampa got waxed,”‘ said Cooper. “But I think if you were in the building, you probably wouldn’t see it that way.”
He’s right.
A good deal of the credit goes to Lundqvist, who had to stare down a high number of quality chances while making 38 saves. Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov, two of the NHL’s hottest players, were each in alone on him in the opening five minutes.
Then there was an Alex Killorn breakaway and a Ryan Callahan shot off the crossbar and another glorious chance for Kucherov from the slot early in the third period. Tampa’s high-octane offence was coming in waves.
Lundqvist had been torched for 12 goals in the previous two games and spent the offday doing some soul-searching. Then The King took back his throne.
“Coming off two losses and a lot of goals scored, obviously, you don’t feel great,” he said. “You walk around and you think a lot. To come into this game and be able to play a strong game, that obviously feels good.”
The biggest moment of redemption came for St. Louis, who had a pile of his patented yellow sticks around his locker on Friday morning.
Evidently, the veteran winger found the right one. With the Rangers on a four-minute power play that came after St. Louis took a dangerous high stick from Nikita Nesterov early in the third period, he ended an 18-game scoring drought by one-timing home a Derick Brassard pass.
Pure elation. The former Lightning captain could barely contain his joy.
“The games keep piling on (without scoring), you’re getting chances, of course you press,” said St. Louis. “Any guy that tells you they don’t press, they’re lying. You’re squeezing the stick a little bit. But you’ve got to play the game. You can’t just try to get goals.
“You’ve got to play the game 200 feet. You do that, sometimes you get rewarded. And tonight I did.”
And so we’re down to a best-of-three for the right to play in the Stanley Cup final. As Tyler Johnson put it in the losing dressing room:
“Pretty cool.”