Tampa Bay and NY Rangers series delicately poised at 2-2

The two-time defending champion Lightning rallied against the NY Rangers, winning Game 4 to tie the game at two-all on Tuesday in their NHL Eastern Conference playoff final.

For now, each team remains in control of its home ice as Pat Maroon, with the participation of Frenchman Pierre-Edouard Bellemarre, opened the scoring in the first period. Nikita Kucherov doubled the lead in the second and Steven Stamkos added to it in the third.

After Artemi Panarin saved the game late, Ondrej Palat, an assist man on his team’s previous two goals, calmly put the puck in the opposing cage deserted by the New York goaltender as the Rangers went for broke with six outfield players in the final minutes.

Home advantage

“You have to admit that it’s easier to play in front of our fans, they push us a lot. But our physical commitment was lacking at the beginning of this series. So we had a sense of urgency. Now we are even, we have to continue on this path”, said Bellemare after the game.

The next game is on Thursday (9 June) at Madison Square Garden in New York where a place in Stanley Cup final awaits the victor where the Colorado Avalanche await after their sweep against Edmonton.

Forthcoming games:

Thursday, June 9: Game N.5, New York - Tampa Bay / Saturday June 11: Game N.6, Tampa Bay - New York /

Monday, June 13: (if necessary) game N.7, New York - Tampa Bay