Recap: Hagel Dominates Rangers at Madison Square Garden, Lightning Win 4-1

Fresh off their victory yesterday against the Boston Bruins, the Rangers got right back into it, this time against the Tampa Bay Lightning. This was the second time this season these two teams met; in their first matchup, the Blueshirts came away with a 7-3 win.

Igor Shesterkin once again got the start between the pipes after a solid performance in Boston. Will Borgen came off injured reserve and was a game-time decision, but ultimately played for the Rangers, which forced Scott Morrow out of the lineup. On the other side, Jonas Johansson started in net for a banged-up Lightning squad, which was without Brayden Point, Victor Hedman, Erik Černák, and Ryan McDonagh. This left Tampa Bay without three of their top four defenders.

First Period

The Lightning had an early stretch in the offensive zone, which led to a few chances and the first nine shots on goal. Ultimately, Shesterkin made some good saves to keep the game scoreless. The Lightning's best chance came from Pontus Holmberg, but he couldn't get the puck in the back of the net. Shesterkin was tested early but remained strong. Not long after, Jake Guentzel generated another chance on a breakaway, but Shesterkin once again kept the Rangers in the game. The Rangers' defense left their goaltender out to dry, but he refused to give up, even taking matters into his own hands at times, poking the puck away from Anthony Cirelli.

It would take nearly ten minutes before the Rangers would get a shot on goal, which came from Carson Soucy. On the following faceoff, the puck would jump loose in front of the net, but the Rangers couldn't capitalize on the opportunity. Eventually, the Lightning are finally able to slip one past Shesterkin on a lucky bounce. Brandon Hagel's shot hit off Soucy, and the Lightning took a 1-0 lead and, at this point in the game, have outshot the Rangers 10-1.

After the goal, the Blueshirts started to tighten up their game and generate some offense. J.T. Miller, Alexis Lafrenière, and Mika Zibanejad created a scoring chance and controlled the puck but remained scoreless. Tampa Bay immediately responded with dominant offensive zone time, and Zemgus Girgensons would rip a shot that hit the pipe. Not long after, the Rangers would draw the first penalty of the game off a slash from Charle-Edouard D'Astous.

Ten seconds into the power play, the Rangers would get called for a high stick on the puck and would have to get the puck back into Tampa Bay's defensive zone. The Blueshirts couldn't get anything going on the power play. After coming up empty-handed on the man advantage, they would make one more push in the last 30 seconds, but came away empty-handed.

Early in the period, the Rangers were dominated, but by the end, they had really tightened up their play and cleaned up their defense. The Rangers would go into the first intermission down one and would look to carry the momentum from the end of the period into the second.

Second Period

The Bolts would pick up right where they left off with four scoring chances within the first three minutes of the second period. Tampa continued to dominate puck possession, not giving the Rangers a chance to breathe. They continued to outshoot the Rangers while Shesterkin stood tall in net. Matthew Robertson would get called for holding four minutes and 16 seconds into the period, sending the Lightning to their first power play of the day. On the man advantage, New York would hold strong against Tampa Bay's first power play unit. A great poke by Taylor Raddysh generated a scoring chance for the Blueshirts shorthanded, but Raddysh wouldn't be able to get it past Johansson, who made a nice save on one of the few times he has been called on. The Rangers held strong, killing off the Robertson penalty successfully.

After the penalty kill, Vincent Trocheck generated one of the team's best chances on a redirected shot from Robertson, but Tampa Bay answered right away. Off a breakaway, Hagel found his second goal of the game. Shesterkin made two saves on the breakaway, but Hagel would get the third one past him. New York's defense was nowhere to be found, as they continued to be dominated. Hagel's goal came from a great assist from Nikita Kucherov.

The Zibanejad, Miller, and Lafrenière line would come up with another good shift, establishing offensive zone time and getting some looks, but were held off the board. Anytime the team started to pick up some momentum, they were unable to sustain it. Not long after, Brett Berard, trying to deliver a hit, crashed into the boards hard and took an elbow to the head. Looking shaken, he immediately skated to the bench to get cleaned up. He would return to the ice later in the second and appeared to be fine.

Through 35 minutes of play, Shesterkin faced just as many shots on goal as he did in yesterday's game against the Bruins. A poor pass from Carson Soucy by the cage led to a turnover that nearly became another Hagel goal, but fortunately for New York, Shesterkin made another save. About two minutes later, the captain, J.T. Miller, scored a massive goal for the team off an assist from Adam Fox. Miller established a net-front presence, and the puck hit off his skate and went in. As bad as they have played, they continue to remain in the game.

The energy from the Miller goal would continue into the next shift, with Artemi Panarin coming up with a good chance. However, the Blueshirts would lose that energy after Igor Shesterkin got called for interference on Hagel with less than 20 seconds left in the period. In their limited time remaining in the second, the Lightning got one good shot on the power play, which will carry into the third. Somehow, the Rangers remained in this game.

Third Period

The Rangers started the period with a shorthanded chance from Cuylle, but it was stopped before the Lightning flipped the tide, peppering the Rangers with multiple shots but coming away with nothing on the man advantage. Right after killing the power play, Kucherov made a beautiful pass to Nick Paul, who was untouched in front of Shesterkin. Paul made a great play on the zone entry, got into the right spot, and was rewarded for his effort, extending the Lightning's lead to 3-1.

Play would stagnate for a while after Paul's goal, with neither team creating many quality chances. During that time, Fox took a big hit from Hagel on the forecheck. Fox immediately came off the ice and headed right to the locker room. Fox assisted on the Miller goal and had been one of the best players on the ice for New York, not only in this game but all season.

A little while later, Kucherov would get a great look but was denied by Robertson. Following the Robertson block, Gage Goncalves would hold the stick of Raddysh, which sent the Blueshirts to the power play with about eight minutes left to play. On the man advantage, New York didn't have a defenseman on the ice with Cuylle taking the spot of Fox. Head coach Mike Sullivan used his timeout with just under seven minutes remaining in the game and 53 seconds on the power play. It proved ineffective, as they failed to score on their second power play of the game.

Shesterkin headed towards the bench with about two minutes and 30 seconds left to play. Hagel got an opportunity to get a hat trick but missed the net. Not long after, Kucherov tried to get it back to Hagel but was unsuccessful. With the sixth skater, the Rangers got some quality chances but failed to put a second one past Johansson. Eventually, Guentzel would put the game away with the empty netter as the fans proceeded to boo the Blueshirts off the ice.

Tampa Bay dominated with 35 shots on goal to the Rangers' 11. To cap off a disappointing performance by the team, Adam Fox never returned from the locker room. The home struggles continued, and at this point, it feels as if all hope is lost for the Rangers while playing at Madison Square Garden.