More Broadway blues for Lightning in another loss to Rangers

Eduardo A. Encina, Tampa Bay Times on Oct 13, 2026

Published in Hockey

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NEW YORK — The only good thing for the Lightning after their 4-1 loss Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden is that they won’t have to see the Rangers again until late March.

The thing is, through the first six games of the season — yes, a small sample size — the Lightning have played well against everyone else.

They took a four-game win streak into Tuesday’s game, but the bad habits they displayed in their Game 1 flop in New York reemerged 12 days later.

The Lightning fell behind early on a pair of Alexis Lafreniere goals in the first 12 minutes, 47 seconds and couldn’t muster a comeback against a Rangers team playing its second game without goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who suffered a season-ending knee injury Friday in Washington.

Both early Rangers goals came with the “Rat Pack” line of Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Jake Guentzel — the the Lightning’s best two-way line starting the night — on the ice. In fact, Cirelli sat the final 7:13 of the first period after he was caught as the last man back on Lafreniere’s second goal.

Lafreniere gave the Rangers the lead just 62 seconds into the game on the Cirelli line’s first shift. Tye Kartye won a puck battle against Victor Hedman against the end boards then centered the puck to Lafreniere, who buried it past goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Kartye then backhanded a lead pass high into the air through the neutral zone, and Lafreniere outraced Cirelli to it — Cirelli tried to glove the puck but missed — and fought off Cirelli’s stick, beating Vasilevskiy on the glove side.

Zemgus Girgensons was able to cut the New York lead to a goal with 2:34 left in the first period after he kept the puck on the right wing on a 2-on-1 rush and crossed up goaltender Dylan Garand, beating him over the left shoulder.

But the Lightning were unable to get an all-important tying goal.