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Rangers try to slow down Bolts in Game 4

May 22, 2015 - 2:59 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Henrik Lundqvist has rarely struggled during his sensational and consistent career with the New York Rangers, but the man known as "The King" hasn't looked like goaltending royalty in the last two games of the Eastern Conference finals.

Lundqvist and the Rangers will try to bounce back from consecutive losses when they visit the high-powered Tampa Bay Lightning for Friday's Game 4 battle at Amalie Arena. If they can't contain the Bolts tonight, the Blueshirts could be facing a 3-1 deficit in this best-of-seven series.

Although New York was swept by Tampa in three regular-season meetings this season -- and surrendered 15 goals in the process -- the Rangers seemed to put those earlier struggles behind them when they notched a 2-1 win in Game 1 on home ice.

However, after stopping 23-of-24 shots in the opener, Lundqvist has been torched for 12 goals on 66 shots over back-to-back losses in Games 2 and 3. He yielded every goal in Monday's shocking 6-2 loss on home ice, marking the first time Lundqvist had surrendered six goals since a setback to the New York Islanders back on Oct. 14.

On Wednesday in Tampa, Lundqvist stopped 34 shots, including some excellent stops, but he let his club down in the end, yielding a soft game-winning goal in a 6-5 overtime loss.

Just 3:33 into the extra session, Nikita Kucherov, one-third of Tampa's dangerous line known better as "The Triplets," fluttered a seemingly innocuous shot at the goal and the puck somehow made its way into the net for the win. It was Kucherov's second OT winner of this postseason, as he also provided the decisive marker in a double-OT victory over Montreal in Game 1 of the East semis.

Kucherov, who also added an assist in the high-scoring affair, carried the puck from the neutral zone up the right wing, then cut towards the middle below the circles and froze two enemy defenders with a wobbling shot that beat Lundqvist for the deciding score.

"For some reason I couldn't pick it up," Lundqvist admitted. "It comes at me and looks like it's coming towards me, and then I'm just late reacting. I don't know why I didn't pick it up. It's a tough one, it really is. It's really challenging for me the way they move the puck."

Rangers coach Alain Vigneault stood up for his goaltender after the game and pointed to a stellar save Lundqvist made on J.T. Brown's breakaway attempt about a minute before Kucherov's stunner.

"Hank had stopped the breakaway just before that, giving us a chance," Vigneault remarked. "Sometimes stuff happens."

Kucherov's fellow "Triplets," Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson also made solid contributions to the victory. Palat had two goals and one assist, while Johnson notched a goal and a helper.

"It's so much fun to play with those two guys," Palat said. "Hopefully we're just going to keep going. We read off each other. I know exactly where [Johnson] and [Kucherov] are going to be on the ice. It's just fun."

Johnson's marker was his league-leading 12th of the postseason and tied him for the most by a Lightning player in a single playoff run. Both Ruslan Fedotenko and Brad Richards had 12 goals during Tampa's lone Stanley Cup title season of 2004.

Alex Killorn and Steven Stamkos each picked up a goal and assist for Tampa. Ben Bishop, meanwhile, allowed a playoff-season high five goals but did just enough to earn the victory thanks to 23 stops.

Jesper Fast tallied twice, with Dan Boyle and Ryan McDonagh adding a goal and assist apiece for the Rangers, who also received offense from Derick Brassard in defeat.

Fast became the first Rangers rookie to record a multi-goal effort in a road playoff game since Mike Ridley on Apr. 9, 1986 in a 6-2 win over the Flyers.

"It feels good for the confidence, but the most important thing is it's a race to four wins," Fast said of his two-goal game. "Today, we didn't get the win, so I don't feel that happy right now."

The Bolts improved to 5-3 on home ice in this postseason, while New York fell to 3-3 as the guest.

Game 5 is scheduled for Sunday in New York.