Tampa Bay @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 27, 2019 ) Tampa Bay 4, NY Rangers 3

The Tampa Bay Lightning begin a demanding stretch in which they play five straight road games over a 12-day period, including a trip to Sweden for two contests, when they visit the struggling New York Rangers on Tuesday night. The Lightning looked as though they were going to leave home with two impressive victories before giving up a late power-play goal in regulation and losing to Nashville 3-2 in overtime Saturday.

Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper called it a missed opportunity and captain Steven Stamkos told reporters: “Points are very valuable, especially when you’re going on a two-week trip. It’s going to sting that we let a point slip away with under 10 minutes left in the third. We’re trying to harp on certain areas of the game where we’re improving, but penalties come back to bite us again.” The Lightning have won five straight and is 6-0-2 in the last eight games of the series with New York, which has dropped six of their last seven contests overall (1-5-1) after winning the first two of the season. The Rangers appeared to have found some answers with an impressive 6-2 victory over red-hot Buffalo on Thursday, but gave up all the goals in the final 40 minutes of a 7-4 setback against Boston at home Sunday. “We need to understand how hard we have to play every night,” New York goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, told reporters. “It’s just not going to be enough. Some of it might be confidence, but we have to play very simple, very hard. It comes down to battles. That’s how you win in this league.”

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network

ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (5-3-2): Stamkos scored Saturday to maintain his lead on the team with 11 points, and the center is two away from becoming the first player in franchise history to reach 400. Right wing Nikita Kucherov is second on the team with 10 points, but the reigning Hart Trophy winner has not scored a goal in six games, while center Brayden Point has six points in seven contests since returning from double hip surgery. Defenseman Victor Hedman notched an assist Saturday and boasts a five-game point streak, recording one in nine of the team’s 10 contests this season.

ABOUT THE RANGERS (3-5-1): Team-leading point-getter Mika Zibanejad (11) left Sunday contest after the first period with an upper-body injury and coach David Quinn told reporters afterward he is considered day-to-day. Defenseman Tony DeAngelo, a former first-round pick by Tampa Bay, had two assists Sunday to become the first defenseman to record three straight multi-point games for the club since Hall of Famer Brian Leetch in 1996-97. Artemi Panarin also had two assists against Boston and is second on the team with nine points while fellow forward Pavel Buchnevich has points in three straight contests.

OVERTIME

1. New York F Jesper Fast was a late scratch Sunday for personal reasons and his status for Tuesday is uncertain.

2. The Lightning won’t play another game in their home rink until Nov. 14 against the Rangers.

3. The Rangers scored three power-play goals in 28 chances in the last seven games after going 3-for-5 in the first two of the season.

PREDICTION: Lightning 5, Rangers 1