The drought is over for Martin St. Louis (Vermont), and
the New York Rangers are right back in the NHL's Eastern Conference Final.
St. Louis scored his first goal of the 2015 Stanley Cup
Playoffs as the Rangers defeated the host Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-1, at Amalie Arena
on Friday evening in Florida. The best-of-seven series is now tied at two games
apiece.
After the Rangers had taken a 1-0 first-period lead and
Tampa Bay came back to tie it in the middle frame, Chris Kreider (Boston
College) put home a loose puck late in the second stanza for the game-winner,
his team-leading seventh goal of the postseason, before New York added another
goal less than two minutes later.
The Rangers then tacked on two more goals in the third, including
St. Louis’ first playoff goal since Game Four of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final
against Los Angeles. Kevin Hayes (Boston College) had two assists for New York,
while Carl Hagelin (Michigan) and Dan Boyle (Miami) finished with one apiece.
Ben Bishop (Maine) finished with 19 saves and fell to
10-7 this spring for the Lightning, which outshot New York, 39-24. The Rangers again
scored two power-play goals in four attempts, while Tampa Bay, which got an
assist from Alex Killorn (Harvard) on its lone goal, was blanked in four
man-advantage opportunities.
It was the first playoff win by the Rangers by more than
one goal since last year’s Eastern Conference Final against the Montreal Canadiens.
It also marked the second straight contest this year that New York tallied five
goals, including a 6-5 overtime loss in Game Three on Wednesday.
Game Five will be played Sunday night at Madison Square Garden,
while the winner of that outing will look to close out the series in Game Six
on Tuesday evening in Tampa.
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