Tampa wins the game 4-1. Tampa ties the series 2-2.

Splitting the two games at Tampa did not happen. Even worse, the scoring is going in the wrong direction. Poor defense doomed the Rangers tonight.

Missing Ryan Strome, Chytil leaving the game halfway through and Goodrow playing injured also didn’t help. On the other side, Vasilevskiy continued to play strong and the stars of the team scored a goal in each period.

Tampa got two rebound goals, where the rebound landed right in front of a Tampa player, and the Rangers didn’t. That kind of luck is what helped the Rangers win Game 2. The goal in the second period was from a terrible middle of the ice dump in that was intercepted and turned into a breakaway chance in about 3 1/2 seconds. A dumb play that was stacked on top of a terrible defensive position that had huge gaps in coverage.

In this game, the Rangers’ only goal was from a power play (1/2 for the Rangers, 0/3 for Tampa). The special teams were the only highlight of the night, shutting out Tampa and keeping them from a shut-out game.

Just bad defense and sluggish play through the whole game. What I mention in the last post, that the Rangers looked tired, was true again. With the series tied, the board is now reset into a best of 3 series. The stats of the playoffs go back to the Rangers’ favor as they go back to play at MSG, but they have to play with a renewed drive and strategies to win again. If they don’t win tomorrow, the odds of Tampa winning in 6 at home is really high. They’ve dug deep for weeks now and they have to do it again. The question is if the team is healthy enough to make it happen.