Zibanejad has three points for New York; Kucherov wins Art Ross Trophy
Lightning at Rangers | Recap
NEW YORK — Igor Shesterkin made 27 saves for his sixth shutout of the season and the New York Rangers won their last game of the season, 4-0 against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
Mika Zibanejad scored two goals to reach 20 this season and added an assist. Chris Kreider had a goal and an assist, and Vincent Trocheck scored.
The Rangers (39-36-7) are not going to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after winning the Presidents’ Trophy last season. They were eliminated from playoff contention on April 12.
“Any time you get to win a hockey game it’s fun,” Zibanejad said. “It’s way more fun to leave the rink having won the last game than playing poorly and gotten killed out there. I’m just happy we won. … It was the best way you could end a season like this.”
TBL@NYR: Shesterkin denies 27 shots in his sixth shutout of the season and 21st of his career
Jonas Johansson made 19 saves for Tampa Bay, which lost in regulation for the second time in 12 games since March 25 (7-2-3).
The Lightning (47-27-8) will play the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference First Round. It’s the third time in four years the Lightning and Panthers will meet in the playoffs.
Game 1 is at Amalie Arena on Tuesday.
“There is nothing that (Panthers coach) Paul (Maurice) doesn’t know about us and I don’t know about them,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Maybe who is going to be in the lineup for them in Game 1, but other than that there’s no secrets. The rep of the East has been the two of us for a half decade. The way the schedule sets up and the Battle of Florida happens it can be must-watch TV. It should be a lot of fun.”
The Lightning got a scare early in the second period when Nikita Kucherov was inadvertently hit by teammate J.J. Moser off a face-off in the defensive zone. Kucherov briefly stayed down on the ice and was slow to get to the bench. He was favoring the left side of his face.
But Kucherov, who won the Art Ross Trophy as the League’s leading scorer this season with 121 points, was able to gather himself and stay in the game, although he played a season-low 13:43.
Victor Hedman (16:09), Ryan McDonagh (15:08), Brandon Hagel (14:37) and Jake Guentzel (15:07) also got season low ice time.
“It’s hard to explain when you’re kind of playing out the string here and naturally you don’t want anybody to get hurt,” Cooper said. “They’re just tough games to play in. All of a sudden you’re watching your habits slip a little bit. Guys, they’re not tiptoeing around the ice, but everybody knows what’s at stake and both teams did. In the end, it’s probably how it’s supposed to be; Game 82, the home team won and they got to celebrate with their fans out there. Now we’ve got to go home and prep for what hopefully will be a long playoff run.”
TBL@NYR: Zibanejad unloads a slap shot to extend the lead in the 3rd period
Trocheck put the Rangers ahead 1-0 with a short-handed goal at 1:02 of the second period off a give-and-go with J.T. Miller.
Trocheck got the puck at the right point off a Lightning defensive zone turnover. He chipped it around Nikita Kucherov and took it into the right face-off circle, found Miller in the high slot and immediately got the puck back to score glove side from low in the circle.
It was Trocheck’s fourth short-handed goal in the past nine games. The Rangers finished with a League-high 18 short-handed goals. Trocheck accounted for six, tied for the NHL lead with Buffalo Sabres forward Alex Tuch.
Kreider made it 2-0 at 4:02 of the third period, scoring with a shot over Johansson’s glove from between the circles after his initial shot was blocked by Yanni Gourde.
Zibanejad scored with a one-timer from the left circle to make it 3-0 at 12:50. He added another at 16:24, getting a piece of Kreider’s shot from the right boards for his 20th goal of the season and the 4-0 final.
“Kind of empty,” Zibanejad said of how he feels now that the season is over. “Coming into the rink this afternoon with the weather being like it is, I’m used to gearing up for playoffs, but that’s not the case now.”
It is for the Lightning.
“Now it starts,” Tampa Bay forward Nick Paul said. “Now our gameplan starts. Fly home tonight, figure out what days we’re practicing and what days we’re off, and just prepare for a great series. … We know what it takes and every guy in here is ready to buy in.”
NOTES: Zibanejad’s two goals give him 250 as a Ranger, tying him with Mark Messier for the eighth-most in team history. … It’s also Zibanejad’s eighth straight 20-goal season, tied for the longest streak in team history with Jean Ratelle. He is the fifth Swedish-born player to have eight straight 20-goal seasons, joining Mats Sundin (17), Daniel Alfredsson (10), Markus Naslund (10) and Mats Naslund (8). … Zibanejad’s eight 20-goal seasons are the fourth-most in team history behind Rod Gilbert (12), Kreider (10) and Ratelle (nine).
