from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

It was 3-2 for the Rangers on Friday night in Game 2 as they became the first team over the last three tournaments to defeat Tampa Bay twice in a row after a succession of opponents had tried and failed the previous 16 times the Lightning had lost a playoff game. That may be a footnote to history, but it is one created by the Rangers.

The final score is misleading. The Rangers dominated this game in essentially every facet deep into the third period before the Lightning’s late strike with 2:04 remaining created 124 nervous seconds before Igor Shesterkin and his mates could salute the adoring audience.

The Rangers — the Rangers — are two wins away from going to the Stanley Cup Final.

“We heard all year that we really weren’t going to have playoff success, and we’ve said all year that the belief in the room is high and outside opinion doesn’t really affect us,” said Adam Fox, whose two assists increased his postseason total to 17, with five goals. “We know [the Lightning] had a good streak of not losing back-to-back playoff games but that wasn’t on our minds coming into the game.

“We’re not thinking about streaks or what teams have done earlier. We’re just trying to bring it day in and day out.”

read on

Game highlights are below.