Injuries were a dominant consideration heading into tonight’s game between the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning, and despite some serious efforts, they loomed heavy in the ultimate narrative.
The Bolts managed a scrappy 2-0 lead despite all of their issues, yet maybe you can attribute some of the lost ground to fatigue as the Rangers fought their way to a 3-2 win.
Henrik Lundqvist deserves a ton of credit for keeping the Rangers in the game when the Lightning kept pouring it on, stopping 39 out of 41 shots.
Derek Stepan was a hero, too, scoring two straight goals to tie things up before setting up Chris Kreider’s game-winning goal.
And here is @DerekStepan21 in the #NYR Broadway Hat! pic.twitter.com/U4FRR9xp3c
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) April 6, 2016
Injuries were a consideration for the Rangers, too, with bad news about Ryan McDonagh surfacing before this game. They lost another prominent defenseman during the game on Tuesday, as Dan Girardi suffered a scary fall from a hit by former Ranger Brian Boyle.
The good news for the Rangers and Lightning: they’re both in the playoffs. The bad news is that they’re showing some battle scars from these battles of attrition.