Callahan, Bolts nip Rangers to spoil St. Louis' homecoming
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Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - Former Ranger Ryan Callahan had two goals and an assist against his ex-team to spoil Martin St. Louis' return to Tampa and help the Lightning to a 4-3 victory over New York.
The pregame buildup was solely centered on St. Louis' first game in Amalie Arena since the Lightning's all-time leading scorer requested and was granted a trade to the Rangers on March 5. However, it was Callahan -- the key player Tampa Bay received in the blockbuster swap -- who earned the night's First Star as St. Louis was held off the scoresheet.
Steven Stamkos made quite an impact as well, notching a goal and two assists in the Lightning's fourth win in their last six outings, including two in a row by one goal. Ben Bishop finished with 16 saves in the triumph.
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"Another one-goal game," said Stamkos. "We hold on and find a way to win these games and that's a good trait to have."
New York entered the anticipated matchup off shutout wins over Philadelphia and Montreal, but Henrik Lundqvist stopped just 25-of-29 shots and St. Louis was mostly a non-factor.
Rick Nash did record a goal and an assist for the Rangers, with Mats Zuccarello and Dan Boyle also scoring in defeat.
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Callahan accounted for the first two of three consecutive Tampa Bay goals that erased a 2-1 deficit late in the opening period, during which St. Louis received a generally positive ovation from the home crowd as a video saluting his 12 1/2-year tenure with the Lightning was shown on the scoreboard.
A double-minor penalty to Nash led to Callahan's initial tally of the night, with the former Rangers captain crashing the net to re-direct a long drive from Jason Garrison 2:26 prior to the first intermission.
Callahan's second came midway through the second period off a pinpoint pass from Stamkos, who wheeled around the New York net to set up his teammate for a successful wrister in close that put the Lightning up 3-2.
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Boyle nearly tied it just seconds into the third with a blast that struck the post, but the Rangers later fell behind by two when Matt Carle's point shot deflected off Kucherov's skate and trickled by Lundqvist with 10:22 to go.
Nash got New York back within one when he turned a giveaway from Tampa's Andrej Sustr into his 15th goal of the season with 7:11 left to play.
"Down two goals obviously we're going to take some chances," said Boyle. "You can take some risks."
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But the Lightning held on for the two points.
Stamkos quickly put to rest any hopes of a third straight Rangers' shutout, with the star center setting off a flurry of first-period goals by rifling a shot over Lundqvist's left shoulder on a Tampa power play just 5:25 into the contest.
New York answered just over 3 1/2 minutes later when Sustr fanned on a clearing attempt, creating a 2-on-1 between Nash and Zuccarello in which Bishop had no chance to turn away the latter's attempt.
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The Lightning took a too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty less than two minutes after Zuccarello's score, with the Rangers converting the chance on Boyle's one-timer off a Derek Stepan feed.
Game Notes
Callahan also had two goals in the first meeting between the clubs since the trade, a 5-1 Lightning win at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 17 ... The Lightning are now 13-0-0 following the trade when Callahan scores at least one goal ... Nash's assist on Zuccarello's marker was the 300th of his career ... Lightning forward Alex Killorn extended his career-best point streak to six games with an assist on Callahan's second goal ... Boyle's goal was the free- agent pickup's first point as a Ranger ... Bishop improved to 7-0-0 all-time against New York.