Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Rangers Pick & Prediction APRIL 17th 2025
Preview and Prediction
The Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers are currently experiencing contrasting emotions as they approach the final game of a six-month long regular season marathon.
While the Lightning are preparing for yet another postseason appearance and eagerly anticipating the possibility of a deep playoff run, the Rangers, who have achieved at least 107 points in the past three seasons, are concluding one of their most disappointing seasons in franchise history on Thursday night in New York.
These two teams have already faced each other once this month. On April 7th, Tampa Bay (47-26-8, 102 points) dominated with a 5-1 victory in New York. They scored three goals on the power play and notched three goals in just 1 minute and 45 seconds in the first period. Brayden Point, Nikita Kucherov, and Jake Guentzel all had impressive performances, each earning three points.
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On Tuesday night, Tampa Bay secured second place in the Atlantic Division and home-ice advantage with a convincing 5-1 win over the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers. Point, Guentzel, and Kucherov combined for three goals and three assists in this crucial victory.
Lightning coach Jon Cooper expressed his excitement about their playoff prospects, saying, "We have put ourselves in a position to compete for the Stanley Cup. Out of 32 teams, only 16 remain, and we are one of them. This is what we set out to do. Every year, people doubt us and say, 'Their time is over.' And every year, our team proves them wrong. We have the opportunity to create new memories, and I am eager to see what we can accomplish in the playoffs."
Guentzel, Kucherov, and Point have all been on fire lately, contributing to Tampa Bay's success in securing home-ice advantage for the first time since 2019. Guentzel has scored 14 goals and made 12 assists in his last 24 games, while Kucherov is on track to finish with the most points in the NHL for the second consecutive season and the third time in his career. Kucherov has earned 29 of his 121 points (nine goals, 20 assists) in his last 16 games. Point is also wrapping up his third consecutive 40-goal season and has scored 10 goals in his last 13 games.
The Rangers (38-36-7, 83 points) were six points behind the second wild card spot after their second loss to Tampa Bay just 10 days ago. They are returning from a three-game road trip and were officially eliminated from playoff contention after a 7-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. However, they managed to end their trip on a high note with a 5-3 victory over the Florida Panthers on Monday.
The Rangers are only the fourth team in NHL history to miss the playoffs after winning the President's Trophy the previous season. They have struggled in their last 20 games, with a record of 7-10-3, after a rough stretch of 15 losses in 19 games earlier in the season that ultimately took them out of playoff contention.
In their final game of the season, the Rangers will use the opportunity to evaluate some of their younger players, including Gabe Perreault, Brett Berard, and Matthew Robertson, who made his NHL debut and even spent some time on the top defense pairing with Adam Fox.
This young trio played a significant role in the Rangers' comeback victory on Monday, where they rallied from a two-goal deficit and saw Vincent Trocheck score the game-winning goal during a penalty kill in the third period.
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After the game, Juuso Parssinen spoke about their determination to win, even though they are no longer in the playoffs. He said, "We are still trying to win, even though we are out of the playoffs. We always want to win. We have to be proud and play for our fans, even though we are not making the playoffs."
Tampa Bay Lightning vs. New York Rangers Recap JAN 2TH 2022
Mika Zibanejad scored two power-play goals in the first period and recorded his eighth career hat trick Sunday afternoon as the New York Rangers rolled to a 4-0 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.
After scoring the only shootout goal in Friday's win at Tampa Bay, Zibanejad recorded his seventh hat trick since joining the Rangers in 2016 as the Rangers completed the home-and-home sweep.
New York improved to 9-2-1 in its past 12 home games as Zibanejad recorded his fourth multipoint performance in five games.
Ryan Strome also scored while Chris Kreider tied a career-high with three assists as the Rangers survived the absence of Artemi Panarin, who was placed in the NHL's COVID-19 health and safety protocol before the game.
Igor Shesterkin made 38 saves for his second shutout of the season and fourth career shutout. He made 18 saves in the opening period when the Rangers opened a three-goal lead and was aided by a defense that blocked 18 shots and held Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos to one shot on goal.
Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy returned from a two-game absence in the protocol and allowed four goals on 21 shots. Vasilevskiy lost for the first time in eight appearances, absorbing his first defeat since Nov. 28 at Minnesota.
The third consecutive defeat for the Lightning ties their longest skid of the season as they were blanked for just the second time.
Zibanejad scored twice in a span of 4:53 midway through the first. He made it 1-0 with a wrist shot from the left circle that sailed under the crossbar 7:44 into the period and got another when his pass through the slot for Kappo Kakko was deflected by Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh into the net at 12:37.
Strome made it 3-0 a little more than two minutes later when he got the puck from Barclay Goodrow and lifted a wrist shot past Vasilevskiy.
Zibanejad got his hat trick late in the second period by making a defensive play along the boards, crashing the net and redirecting a pass from Kreider into the net. Tampa Bay challenged for a high-stick, but the goal was upheld.