Rangers' winning streak ends at nine on late shorthanded goal by Lightning

They battled all night, and it appeared the Rangers had a terrific opportunity to extend their nine-game winning streak.

After Dominic Moore scored to tie it against the banged-up Tampa Bay Lightning at 13:43 of the third period Thursday night, the Blueshirts began a power play with 1:26 to go in regulation.

They were set up in the offensive zone, and Derek Stepan passed to Ryan McDonagh at the left point. But he couldn't handle the puck, which was poked away and led to a shorthanded two-on-one rush. J.T. Brown fed Valtteri Filppula, who beat Henrik Lundqvist only 21 seconds after Brian Boyle entered the penalty box.

The result? A stunning 2-1 win for the Lightning at Amalie Arena.

"Doesn't matter how many games you win," said Lundqvist, who made 26 saves. "This one, the way you lose was extremely frustrating. We fought the whole game to get back into it, and we had the opportunity at the end and gave it away.

"You want to come up with the save there. Maybe I was a little too aggressive, maybe me and Mac together could have played it better . . . Even to take it into overtime, we would get a four-on-four situation."

But at the end of a tight-checking game reminiscent of the Lightning's run to the Eastern Conference title last spring, that never happened. Stepan also took some of the blame.

"We did some good things, but the truth of the matter is my mistake cost us two points," he said. "Just put too much air on the pass, and it lands too close to Mac. I put him in a tough spot. I would make the pass again. We're talking inches."

The loss hurt more because the Lightning was missing some of its top forwards, including former Rangers captain Ryan Callahan.

The Rangers managed only 21 shots on Ben Bishop.

"This was about two plays with the puck, two mistakes that they made us pay, and we didn't make them pay enough for their mistakes," coach Alain Vigneault said. "We spent quite a bit of time in their end, but they did a good job defending the lanes and taking options away."

In the first meeting between the teams since May 29, when the Lightning eliminated the Rangers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, 2-0, the Blueshirts' offense never really got untracked.

Vigneault had warned before the game that Tampa Bay, a powerful team when intact, had "their whole defensive corps, their goaltender, some of their top forwards. They're going to be highly motivated. We need to focus on what makes us play a strong game."

With the teams skating four-on-four in the first period, Alex Killorn, who scored the winning goal in Game 7 against the Rangers last spring, beat Lundqvist at 14:47 after a turnover by Keith Yandle.

During the nine-game winning streak, the Rangers trailed for only 57:13. The Lightning, playing with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, led in shots 10-7 after 20 minutes.

Just 3:51 into the third, Chris Kreider was awarded a penalty shot after being held by Andrej Sustr. But Bishop stopped Kreider's wrist shot with his right pad.

The Rangers finally tied the score when Jesper Fast pressured Anton Stralman into a turnover behind the goal line and Moore beat Bishop with a wrister. It was Moore's second goal of the season.