Rangers Upend Lightning as Mistakes Prove Costly

Mike Smith
Nov 12, 2025
3 min read

Bradyen Point shooting puck — Brayden Point and the Lightning fall to the New York Rangers on Wednesday night at Benchmark International Arena, 7-3. Photo Credit: Alyssa Shimko | Thunderstruck Sports

By Mike Smith, Senior Writer | Thunderstruck Sports

Vincent Trocheck scored two goals, and Artemi Panarin contributed four assists as the New York Rangers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-3 on Wednesday night. Although the Lightning outshot the Rangers 36-21, Igor Shesterkin and the New York defense displayed strong play for most of the game.

The loss broke a four-game home winning streak at Benchmark International Arena for Tampa Bay.

The game started out extremely rough for the Lightning as they gave up four goals on five shots in the first period. Will Cuylle opened the scoring for New York with a wrist shot power play goal only a minute into the game.

JT Miller added a second goal for the Rangers two minutes later on a cross from Mika Zibanejad. Bolts head coach Jon Cooper immediately called a timeout to regain some control over the game.

That strategy worked briefly when Scott Sabourin scored after the timeout. For Sabourin, that was his first NHL goal since he was a member of the Ottawa Senators in 2020.

Unfortunately, the positive momentum for Tampa Bay was short-lived, as Alexis Lafreniere would answer yet again for the Rangers less than a minute later to increase the lead, 3-1.

The frenzied first period would continue when Zengus Girgensons brought the Lightning back within one with a wrist shot past Ranger netminder Igor Shesterkin. However, Will Borgen would score when his shot deflected off Charle-Edouard D'Astous' skate.

The opening stanza of the game would see one more goal as Jake Guentzel scored shorthanded to bring the Bolts again within one.

Demons Rise Again for Lightning

After the action of the first period, the Bolts and Rangers settled down into a more methodical pace for the second. The Bolts outshot the Rangers in the period, 12-5. Despite the offensive play of the Lightning, Shesterkin kept his poise and kept Tampa Bay off the board in the period.

The Lightning's effort was also thwarted by another defensive lapse, a problem that has plagued the team in the second period over the past few years. Bolts goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy gave up a late goal to Vincent Trocheck when he slipped moving across the crease and fell.

The play was reminiscent of past plays when Tampa Bay's mistakes catch up with them as the game goes along.

"It was amazing how many bounces went against us," Cooper said afterwards. "Did I like some of the penalties we took? No. Did I love some of the turnovers we made? I didn't."

Trocheck would score again five minutes into the third period, which all but broke the Lightning's spirit.

Young Faces Replace Injured Bolts

Tampa Bay saw a shortage of familiar faces out due to injury tonight. Among them were Anthony Cirelli, Victor Hedman, and Ryan McDonagh. Brandon Hagel was injured three shifts into the game and did not return. The rash of injuries allowed for several young faces to make appearances in Lightning blue.

Curtis Douglas and Jack Finley scored the first points of their NHL careers with assists on Sabourin's first period goal. Boris Katchouk started his first game of the season for Tampa Bay and stood out in Cooper's eyes.

"I thought Boris was arguably our best player tonight," Cooper said. "So you know that's awesome. It's a tribute to what these (newer) guys are doing."

Cooper also would not allow the team to become mired in what appears to be a rampant injury bug.

"Let's not just make this about the players that weren't in the game," Cooper said sternly. "We fielded a team that I thought gave us a really good chance to win, and lots of stuff didn't go our way."

"We could probably sit and talk to a few guys and say that we need better out of them. But other than that, let's stop talking about the guys who weren't in the lineup."

Three Players of the Game

Vincent Trocheck, New York. Two goals that put the game out of reach for the Rangers.
Artemi Panarin, New York. Four assists as Panarin found himself in the mix all night long.
Scott Saubourin, Tampa Bay. His first goal in nearly five years sparked the Bolts back into contention.