Sergachev, Lightning strike late, push Rangers to brink in Game 5

The Rangers won nine straight playoff games at Madison Square Garden, but now they once again find themselves on the brink of elimination, this time against the Lightning.

In a skin-tight Game 5, the Lightning beat the Rangers 3-1 to take a 3-2 series lead.

This ended up being another case of the Lightning striking late, rather than early. With 1:50 remaining in the third period, Mikhail Sergachev sent a shot that bounced off of Ondrej Palat for the game-winner. Brandon Hagel‘s empty-netter then put it out of reach.

Consider it the latest instance where the Lightning stunned an opponent in the closing moments of the third period.

Just a disgusting feed from Kucherov on Palat's game-winner pic.twitter.com/CXzgUZSmNW

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) June 5, 2022

Could that have been a tougher series if not for that tally? Maybe not, but the Lightning avoided overtime and gained big wins with late goals.

They’ve been especially crucial during the many times where the margin of error was tiny.

Oh, and speaking of late developments, there was nastiness after the final whistle. That nastiness included an unlikely fight/scuffle between … Steven Stamkos and Alexis Lafrenière?

Nikita Kucherov throws one on net as the game expires and the Rangers take offense, leading into a fight between Lafreniere and Stamkos and some definite tomfoolery elsewhere#NoQuitInNY | #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/XYXAFGo3ke

— NHL Highlights #StanleyCup | HockeyDaily365 (@HockeyDaily365) June 10, 2022

If you’re looking for some violence, you may find it that way. (Unless Gerard Gallant calls his team soft again; then maybe the two teams will be more violent all game[s] long.)

Through the first 40 minutes of Game 5, both teams were stingy. In a scoreless