Betting HubSharp Action
Barstool BushChronicling the Barstool Universe

Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers

Tue Oct 137:15 PM ETESPN+New York, NY
By JR·2 min read
Lightning(4-1-0)
Rangers(4-2-0)
Tuesday 10/137:15 PM

TLDR: The last time Tampa Bay walked into Madison Square Garden, it left with a 5-1 loss and Igor Shesterkin scoring his first NHL goal. On Tuesday, October 13, the Lightning come back to a building where Shesterkin won't play again this season.

TUE 10/13, 7:15 PMESPN+
Lightning
(4-1-0)
WWWWL
Rangers
(4-2-0)
LWWWW

Tampa Bay won 4 straight after a 5-1 loss at Madison Square Garden on October 1 and returns to face a Rangers team that has lost Igor Shesterkin for the season and Joonas Korpisalo for about 4 weeks. Dylan Garand, who has a strong but tiny NHL sample, inherits the net and starts Sunday against Vancouver before this one. How the Rangers defend in front of him against Hagel, Guentzel and a well-rested Lightning lineup decides the game.

Tampa Bay Lightning
  • Hagel's hat trick at UBS included 2 late goals
  • 4 straight wins, no more than 3 allowed in any
  • Faces a Rangers crease without Shesterkin or Korpisalo
  • Beaten 5-1 at the Garden on October 1
  • Gave up 3 straight 2nd-period goals to the Islanders
  • Lilleberg's return from an undisclosed injury unconfirmed
New York Rangers
  • Beat Tampa 5-1 in the first meeting
  • Garand has a .954 save percentage in 5 NHL games
  • Sunday's Vancouver game gets Garand settled before Tampa
  • Shesterkin out for the season with a lower-body injury
  • Korpisalo also out about 4 weeks, so no proven backup
  • Garand has only 5 career NHL games

Not much carries over from that first meeting. The Rangers dominated Tampa on October 1, but the man who held the fort that night got hurt in a 3-1 loss to Washington. His skate jammed into the post while he was scrambling back into his crease, and his leg bent awkwardly as he fell. He left unable to put weight on his right leg, and the club has since ruled him out for the year. Before the injury he was 3-1-0 with a 1.79 GAA and a .927 save percentage. That was the season's foundation, and now it's gone.

It gets worse in the crease. Backup Joonas Korpisalo is out about 4 weeks with his own lower-body injury, so the job goes to Dylan Garand, a 24-year-old recalled from Hartford on October 1. His tiny NHL sample is excellent: 3-1-1 in 5 career games with a 1.31 GAA, a .954 save percentage and a 2-0 shutout at Detroit on October 2. Mike Sullivan called it a next-man-up situation. Garand said he plays with a chip on his shoulder about how his career has gone so far.

Before any of that touches Tampa, Garand makes his first start as the No. 1 on Sunday at home against Vancouver. The Canucks will be on the second night of a back-to-back. That game is the real preview for this one. It will show whether the Rangers can defend in front of a goalie they didn't plan to lean on, and how much Sullivan shuffles the structure to protect him. New York then gets a day off before Tampa arrives.

Tampa Bay Lightning
(4-1-0)
10/10W@Islanders5-3
10/08WvsWild3-2
10/05WvsFlyers4-1
10/03WvsCapitals3-1
10/01L@Rangers1-5
New York Rangers
(4-2-0)
10/09L@Capitals1-3
10/06WvsIslanders5-2
10/04WvsMammoth4-2
10/02W@Red Wings2-0
10/01WvsLightning5-1

Tampa hasn't lost since leaving the Garden. It has won 4 straight and given up 1, 1, 2 and 3 goals along the way. The latest was a 5-3 win at UBS Arena. Brandon Hagel finished a hat trick with 2 goals in the final 2 minutes after the Islanders erased a 2-goal hole in the 2nd period. Jake Guentzel opened the scoring. The Isles' 3-goal push in the middle frame came from Tony DeAngelo, Matthew Schaefer and Brayden Schenn, and it's the one stretch of the run where Tampa looked loose.

The Lightning also get the cleaner schedule. They're off from the Islanders game until puck drop on Tuesday, while the Rangers play Sunday first. Tampa's own injury list is manageable. Emil Lilleberg (undisclosed) was expected to miss about a week as of October 5, so he could be close, though nothing confirms a return yet. Yanni Gourde (hip) is on the injured non-roster list and isn't coming back soon.

So the 5-1 result from early October isn't the frame for this game. The question is whether a goalie with 5 NHL games behind him can handle a Tampa team that keeps scoring late. Sunday against Vancouver gives the first real answer. Puck drop Tuesday is 7:15 PM ET at the Garden.

Tampa Bay Lightning at New York Rangers — Lightning Visit a Garden That Just Lost Its Goalie | Polymarket Odds · Barstool Bush