Associated Press
Derek Stepan had a tiebreaking goal and added an assist, helping the Rangers extend their winning streak to five with a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.
Stepan, who took a shot off his left ankle in Thursday's 5-3 win over Carolina, gave the Blueshirts a 3-2 lead on a low slot rebound goal with 3:19 left in the game. Brad Richards scored an empty-netter in the final minute.
The Rangers also got goals from Ruslan Fedotenko and Artem Anisimov. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 24 shots.
Steve Downie and Tom Pyatt scored for the Lightning, who have lost five of seven. Mathieu Garon made 32 saves.
Tampa Bay went ahead 2-1 when Pyatt scored from the low left circle with 2:18 left in the second. Anisimov made it 2-2 at 6:16 of the third after a Tampa Bay defensive zone turnover.
Fedotenko tied it at 1 at 6:38 of the second with an in-close backhander off a pass from Richards. Both were key members of Tampa Bay's 2004 Stanley Cup championship team, which was coached by current Rangers coach John Tortorella.
Downie put the Lightning up 1-0 from the high slot 84 seconds into the game. The contest was penalty-free until Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina received an elbowing minor with 7:35 to go in the third.
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STAT OF THE GAME
The Blueshirts' 33 points through 23 games to start the season is the most since they recorded 34 points in 23 games (16-5-2) to begin the 1993-94 Stanley Cup championship season.
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| (selected by newyorkrangers.com) |
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| 1. Stepan |
2. Anisimov |
3. McDonagh |
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[51-24-7]
[38-36-8]