The Tampa Bay Lightning scored a pair of late goals to power past the New York Rangers 3-1 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday.
Ondrej Palat recorded the deciding tally with one minute and 50 seconds remaining in the third period, while Brandon Hagel tucked home an insurance goal with just under a minute left, as the Lightning are now one game away from their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final.
Mikhail Sergachev also scored for Tampa Bay and was originally credited with the game-winner, while Ryan Lindgren countered for New York. Here are the major takeaways from the game:
The Sergachev Game couldn’t have arrived at a better time for the Lightning
It’s only fitting that during the cagiest game of the series, it was an unsung defensive hero who shone brightest for the Lightning. Sergachev’s first goal of the postseason came at the most opportune time for the defending champions, who will be looking to close the series out at Amalie Arena on Saturday night.
Sergachev’s goal perhaps illustrated how narrow the margin of error is for the Rangers. Kevin Rooney, who entered the series due to Ryan Strome’s Game 3 injury, carelessly huffed the puck off the boards, and it ended up on Sergachev’s stick. Corey Perry screened Igor Shesterkin and Sergachev wired a perfect seeing-eye shot through traffic to tie the game.
The game-winning marker was eventually credited to Palat, but Sergachev was initially listed with the goal. Although he hadn’t scored since an April 16 regular season contest against the Winnipeg Jets, Sergachev’s confidence evidently skyrocketed, and he got another shot through traffic to stun Shesterkin that hit Palat en route to the net.
There may be a tendency to attribute Sergachev’s brace as a byproduct of shooting luck, but he was the best skater on the ice for the Lightning with four shots, while the Lightning…