Lightning On The Brink Of Cup Final After 3-1 Win Over Rangers In Game 5

@jayRecher

*****

One more to go.

Mikhail Sergachev, Ondrej Palat & Brandon Hagel each scored and Andrei Vasilevskiy had 24 saves as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the New York Rangers 3-1 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Lightning now lead the series 3-2.

With the game tied at 1-1 and destined for overtime, a point shot from Sergachev did the trick for the second time in the game.

Tampa Bay's young defenseman got the visitors on the board at 17:34 of the 2nd period when he wristed a seeing-eye shot past New York netminder Igor Shesterkin to tie the game at one apiece.

This time, his shot needed a little help.

Coming through clutch for the third straight game, Palat was in the right spot at the right time & Sergachev's shot deflected off of his knee and past Shesterkin with just 1:50 left in the game.

That was Palat's 11th game-winning goal in his postseason career.

Hagel added an empty-netter with 58.8 seconds left to seal the deal for Tampa Bay.

There weren't any goals scored in the 1st period, but the Lightning did hit a couple of posts.

Nikita Kucherov ripped a slapshot off the post after a heads-up cross-ice dump-in from the captain Steven Stamkos and then Nick Paul, racing down the ice on a 2-on-2, drew iron with a quick snapshot as well.

New York opened up the scoring at 10:29 of the 2nd when defenseman Ryan Lindgren pinched in from the left point and threw a seemingly harmless shot on net that beat Vasilevskiy over the blocker to put the Rangers up 1-0.

Shesterkin stopped 24 of the 26 he faced on the evening and now he and New York have their backs against the wall once again in this postseason.

This mountain may prove to be too high for the Rangers to climb.

We'll find out Saturday night.

SCORING SUMMARY

1st Period

NONE

2nd Period

1. New York - Lindgren - (Unassisted) - 10:29
2. Tampa Bay - Sergachev - (Unassisted) - 17:34

3rd Period

1. Tampa Bay - Palat - (Sergachev, Hedman) - 18:10
2. Tampa Bay - ENG - Hagel - (Kucherov) - 19:01

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PENALTY SUMMARY

1st Period

NONE

2nd Period

1. New York - Schneider - (Hooking) - 3:05
2. Tampa Bay - TEAM - (Too Many Men) - 7:48

3rd Period

1. Tampa Bay - MAJOR - Stamkos - (Fighting) - 20:00
2. Tampa Bay - Cernak - (Roughing) - 20:00
3. New York - MAJOR - Lafreniere - (Fighting) - 20:00
4. New York - Strome - (Roughing) - 20:00
5. New York - Fox - (Slashing) - 20:00

*****

What's Next For The Bolts : The Lightning are back in action on Saturday night as they welcome the New York Rangers back to Amalie Arena for Game 6 of their Eastern Conference Final matchup. Puck drop is slated for 8:00pm with the pregame show starting at 7:00pm on NewsRadio WFLA & Lightning Power Play on the iHeartRadio app.

PHOTO : Getty Images