Rangers' Collapse Lamented by Fans as Lightning Rally from 2-0 Down to Take Game 3

The New York Rangers had the Tampa Bay Lightning on the ropes. They needed a better knockdown punch to keep the two-time defending champs down, though.

The Lightning beat the Rangers 3-2 Sunday in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, despite the Rangers taking a 2-0 midway through the second period behind goals from Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider.

Nikita Kucherov pulled one back in the second period, while Steven Stamkos and Ondrej Palat found the net in the third to steal the win.

And Rangers fans were not pleased watching their team give away a chance to take a stranglehold on this series:

The Rangers still hold a 2-1 advantage in the series, with Game 4 in Tampa Bay on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET (ESPN). But with the chance to take a commanding 3-0 lead and move one game away from the franchise's first Stanley Cup Finals appearance since the 2013-14 campaign, the Rangers blew it.

Igor Shesterkin, who has been very good in these playoffs, did his part to back up what was a leaky defense on Sunday, stopping 48 of the 51 shots he faced. He dealt with 21 more shots than his counterpart, Andrei Vasilevskiy, who turned away 28 of New York's 30 attempts.

The Lightning are two-time defending champions for a reason. The Rangers learned that the hard way in Game 3, giving away a golden chance to all but bury Tampa.