Mika Zibanejad scores twice as Rangers win opener over Lightning

The road to the Stanley Cup Final, for the would-be contenders in the Eastern Conference, still runs through the Tampa Bay Lightning.  The Lightning finally lost in the Finals last spring to the Colorado Avalanche, but they’ve been to the Finals three times in a row, and they are still loaded.

The Rangers, who lost to the Lightning in the Eastern Conference final last spring, served notice Tuesday at Madison Square Garden that they will be one of those teams coming for the Lightning in next spring’s playoffs.

    They rode two special teams goals by Mika Zibanejad and a full-strength goal by ex-Lightning player Barclay Goodrow to a convincing 3-1 victory over Tampa Bay in the season opener for both teams.

“You couldn't have drawn that up any better,’’ Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren said. “From start to finish we played well. Obviously, that was the team that knocked us out last year, so we were hungry to play them again. We were really excited to get back at it and play in front of the home crowd, and it was a really good game by us.’’

“It’s what I expected, to be honest with you,’’ Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said of his team’s performance. “The preseason, the last couple games weren't great, but I knew the intensity would pick up tonight and I thought we played great. The guys were ready for this. The last time we played this team was in the semifinals in the Stanley Cup, so [tonight] was a good win. We played well, and we played hard, and everybody was a big part of that win tonight.’’

Zibanejad beat Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy for a brilliant shorthanded goal early in the second period to open the scoring, then after Tampa Bay tied the game with a five-on-three goal by Steven Stamkos, Zibanejad scored on the power play at 5:11 of the third period to restore the Rangers’ lead, 2-1. Goodrow made it 3-1 when he tipped in a shot by Lindgren at 11:00 of the third.

“He was outstanding,’’ Gallant said of Zibanejad. “I mean PK, power play, the shorthanded goal, the power play goal. I mean the line played great, the team played great, but he was definitely the leader.’’

Asked if this was the kind of fast start he would have wanted for himself, Zibanejad laughed.

“Obviously it's nice to see the puck go in and not stand here after Game 15 and not have scored and have you guys ask about it,’’ he said. “In terms of that, yeah, it's nice. But it's a lot nicer to get that win and get that good start. And not just get the win, but the way we won today, and the way we played. I thought that was that was that was a good thing for us.’’

The Rangers outshot Tampa Bay 39-27 and certainly could have scored more had Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy not played a strong game. At the other end, Igor Shesterkin was sharp in making 26 saves.

Zibanejad opened the scoring with the Rangers killing a penalty when he drove in from the right wing and roofed a backhander over Vasilevskiy’s shoulder at 3:25 of the second period.

But Tampa Bay tied it when Stamkos scored on a five-on-three goal at 9:09 of the period, with K’Andre Miller and Goodrow both in the penalty box, Miller for tripping Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel (Miller disagreed with the call and protested to the referee that Hagel dived on the play) and Goodrow for elbowing Hagel.

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By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.