NHL Tuesday: Rangers lose at MSG, Ducks stave off Predators in Nashville

Tarasenko opened the scoring early in the first period thanks to a play from Jori Lehtera. The Blues center drove through the offensive zone and whipped a pass back for Tarasenko, who rifled it past Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford for his second of the playoffs.

Leave it to Tarasenko to change things. The Russian winger fired a laser of a shot past Elliott at the end of the second period to restore the tie. That set the tone for the rest of the game, as the Blues would score two more unanswered goals in the third period to take and hold the lead for good.

The Ducks went into “protect the lead” mode for much of an uneventful third period, and Andersen recovered from an injury scare to stop all of Nashville’s final 13 shots in the frame to preserve the win.

We’ve seen goalies fight in the playoffs before. But it’s usually with other goalies, and they rarely instigate the shoving matches in the first place.

Somehow the Blackhawks ended up with a power play out of the mess. Maybe Corey Crawford is a genius.

Stalberg was unhurt, as he continued playing. It was confirmed on Wednesday that Letang would not face supplemental discipline for the play. The Penguins went on to win the game and take a 2-1 series lead.

Detroit began undoing their own positive momentum in the second period. A power play was instantly negated when Mrazek tripped a player behind the net. More penalty trouble struck midway through the frame. With Riley Sheahan in the sin bin, the Lightning carved Detroit’s penalty kill up for a second goal. Mrazek expected Jonathan Drouin to shoot at a wide open net, and when he moved to cover Drouin fired to Kucherov for the one-timer goal and a 2-0 lead.

Sheahan redeemed himself with seconds left in the period. Sheahan and Gustav Nyquist’s strong forecheck forced a turnover deep in the Lightning zone, and Sheahan dished to Nyquist for the equalizer.

Lundqvist and Murray looked solid early in the first, both turning aside a handful of decent chances apiece. New York came about the opening goal in a backwards way: by taking a penalty.

The goal made Crosby fourth in playoff goal scoring since he entered the league.

At 5’9, he’s only 2 inches taller than I am, and I still need help reaching for things on the top shelf from time to time. So when he gets hit, he tends to go flying.

Case in point:

Bad Behavior: Flyers fans embarrassed themselves after fight in playoff game