ECF Preview and Live Thread - May 24

Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers, Game 5

Series Tied 2-2

8:00 PM EST, NBCSN

Talk about opening up a series eh? After two and a half rounds of low scoring, 1-goal affairs, the New York Rangers have suddenly opened up the floodgates offensively. With back-to-back 5-goal performances, the Blueshirts have regained their home ice advantage as they head back to New York for a pivotal Game 5. Steven Stamkos' quiet start to the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs was nothing compared to Rick Nash's annual playoff no-show for the Rangers.  The All-Star winger finally found the scoresheet in Game 4, however, propelling the Rangers to a 5-1 win with 2 goals and an assist.

Nash scored the game's opening goal late in the first period, and after the Lightning responded with a tying goal of their own, the Rangers exploded for four more unanswered tallies. Rick Nash and Keith Yandle led the way with 3 points each, while Kevin Klein and Kevin Hayes added 2 points a piece.

On the other side of the ice, the Lightning were caught on the wrong end of a lopsided goaltending battle.  Ben Bishop surrendered a ghastly 5 goals on just 24 shots, while Henrik Lundvist stopped all but 1 of the 39 shots he faced.  Perhaps the key to this series, the Rangers were able to shut down Tyler Johnson in Game 4, holding him to just 1 shot on goal and no points.  Victor Hedman, meanwhile, led the way with 7 shots on goal in 23:00 of ice time for the Lightning.

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