National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
NY Rangers 4, Tampa Bay 3
When: 7:00 PM ET, Sunday, December 29, 2013
Where: Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa, Florida
Referees: Ghislain Hebert, Brian Pochmara
Linesmen: Steve Barton, Derek Nansen
Attendance: 19204

Rangers 4, Lightning 3: Mats Zuccarello recorded one of his team's three power-play goals and added a pair of assists as New York edged host Tampa Bay for its third win in four games.

Chris Kreider, Rick Nash and Benoit Pouliot also scored while Derick Brassard and defenseman Ryan McDonagh registered two assists apiece for the Rangers. Henrik Lundqvist, who sat out the previous three games, turned aside 37 shots – including 15 in the third period.

Valtteri Filppula had a goal and an assist while rookies Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat contributed goals for the Lightning, who posted a 5-0 victory over the Rangers on Nov. 25. Teddy Purcell added two assists and Anders Lindback made 25 saves as Tampa Bay lost in regulation for the first time in seven games.

Derek Stepan stole a pass and set up Nash 4:30 into the contest before Johnson scored off a Purcell pass on the power play at 10:41 to tie it. Palat scored from the left faceoff circle at 16:05, but Zuccarello’s pass caromed in off Lightning defenseman Radko Gudas’ skate 2:20 later with the man advantage.

Kreider deked to the backhand to beat Lindback 4:35 into the middle session and Pouliot tipped in Brassard’s pass 3:16 later – both on the power play – for a 4-2 lead. Filppula deflected Purcell’s shot through his legs and into the left corner of the net 8:14 into the third period to pull Tampa Bay within a goal.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Brassard notched his 200th career point with his assist on Zuccarello’s goal. … Tampa Bay D Dmitry Korobov, playing his third NHL game with veteran Ds Sami Salo and Eric Brewer out due to upper-body injuries, earned his first career point with an assist on Filppula’s goal. … Rangers D Conor Allen made his NHL debut and had two shots on goal in 15:47 of ice time.
Top Game Performances
 
NY Rangers   Tampa Bay
Mats Zuccarello 3 Points Valtteri Filppula 2
Mats Zuccarello 1 Goals Valtteri Filppula 1
Mats Zuccarello 2 Assists Teddy Purcell 2
Mats Zuccarello 1 Power Play Goals Tyler Johnson 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Henrik Lundqvist .925 Save Percentage Anders Lindback .862
Henrik Lundqvist 37 Saves Anders Lindback 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
NY Rangers 29 4 3-3 1-2 4 31
Tampa Bay 40 3 1-2 0-3 6 29
Upcoming Games
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game on the road against Vancouver. The Lightning have a W/L % of .609 after a win and .562 after a loss.
  • NY Rangers will play their next game on the road against Florida. The Rangers have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .591 after a loss.