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The Tampa Bay Lightning needed a third-period rally in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Rangers to avoid a 3-0 hole. The Lightning are solid favorites on the NHL odds at home Tuesday night to even things up.

How to Bet Rangers at Lightning NHL Hockey Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 8 PM ET
Where: Amalie Arena
TV: ESPN
Stream: ESPN app
Radio: Tunein.com
Opening NHL Lines: Lightning -175, Rangers +165 (total 5.5 goals)

Why Bet on New York?

The Rangers fell to 2-6 on the road in these playoffs by blowing a 2-0 second-period lead in Game 2 and losing 3-2. The trio of Mika Zibanejad (1-1—2), Chris Kreider (1-0—1) and Adam Fox (0-1—1) continued to play pivotal roles for the Rangers offense.

Kreider scored his 34th career playoff tally and tied Rod Gilbert for the most in the postseason by a Rangers player in franchise history. It also marked his 12th career power-play goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, tying Brian Leetch for the second most by a New York skater (since 1933-34) and trailing only Adam Graves (13). Zibanejad became the second Rangers player to score six power-play goals in a single postseason (since 1933-34). The other: Graves (6 PPG in 1996). Zibanejad (seven goals, six assists) also extended his point streak to eight games.

Fox (5-18—23 in 20 GP) became the fifth defenseman in the past 30 years to record an eight-game point streak in the playoffs and first since Miro Heiskanen in 2020. Fox has now recorded the most points by a defenseman in NHL history through 20 career playoff games, surpassing Leetch (8-14—22 in 20 GP).

Igor Shesterkin stopped 48 of 51 shots in the loss. Shesterkin was excellent in Game 3 against a barrage of Tampa Bay shots but allowed a late goal to Ondrej Palat as the Rangers fell 3-2. The 26-year-old netminder dropped to 10-6 in the postseason with a .930 save percentage.

The Rangers played a majority of their Game 3 loss without second-line center Ryan Strome, who took a cross-check to the lower back from Palat early in the second period. Strome returned later in the period for a single shift, but the 28-year-old ultimately retreated back to the Rangers locker room and stayed there with what the team said was a lower-body injury. Strome finished with two shots on goal, two blocks and one hit in 7:22 of ice time. He is expected to play Tuesday.

Fellow forward Barclay Goodrow blocked a shot in Game 3 abut managed to stay in the contest. Goodrow missed 11 games this postseason due to a lower-body injury and he may have taken that shot from Victor Hedman in the same area on Sunday. “Barclay is a competitor, he comes back and plays and that’s what he does,” said coach Gerard Gallant on Monday. “There’s always concerns, but tomorrow we’ll feel a lot better about it.”

Why Bet on Tampa Bay?

The only instance of the Lightning winning a Stanley Cup Playoffs series after facing a 2-0 deficit was in the 2003 Conference Quarterfinals, where Tampa Bay earned four straight victories to stun Washington.

After falling down 2-0 in Game 3, Nikita Kucherov (1-2—3) factored on three unanswered Lightning goals – including an assist on Ondrej Palat’s game winner with 42 seconds left in regulation – to lift Tampa Bay to its first win of the Eastern Conference Final.

Palat became the fourth player in Lightning history to score a go-ahead goal in the final minute of a postseason game and the second during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, joining Ross Colton (59:56 in Game 2 of R2) – which also stands as the second-latest such tally for the franchise. Palat’s tally also marked his 10th career game-winning goal (all w/ TBL), surpassing Tyler Johnson for the most in franchise history.

Kucherov (6-14—20 in 14 GP), with his third outing of three or more points these playoffs, became the sixth player in NHL history to record 20 career games of at least three points in the postseason. It’s the third consecutive postseason Kucherov registered at least 20 points. Only three players in NHL history have recorded longer such stretches: Sergei Fedorov (4 from 1995-98 w/ DET), Mike Bossy (4 from 1980-83 w/ NYI) and Bryan Trottier (4 from 1980-83 w/ NYI).

Steven Stamkos (1-1—2) notched his 23rd career multi-point game in the postseason, trailing only (43) and Martin St. Louis (24) for the most in Lightning history.

Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed two goals on 30 shots in Sunday’s win. Vasilevskiy was sharp Sunday, stopping 28 of 30 shots with both Ranger goals coming on second-period power plays. The 27-year-old netminder has a .922 save percentage through 14 postseason starts.

Center Brayden Point (lower body) has been making progress, but he has been ruled out for Game 4 on Tuesday against the Rangers. Point skated with his teammates for the first time on Monday during an optional practice since he suffered a lower-body injury on May 14 in the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He will miss an eighth straight game on Tuesday. Coach Jon Cooper said before the Eastern Conference Final that Point wasn’t expected to play in the series.