Rangers vs. Lightning: Game 3 Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 NHL Playoffs

Henrik Lundqvist simply cannot figure out the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The New York Rangers won the Presidents' Trophy this season, but they are in serious trouble in the Eastern Conference Final against Tampa Bay.

The NHL's highest-scoring offense did what it does best Wednesday on the way to a 6-5 overtime victory over the Rangers at Amalie Arena. The Lightning now lead the series 2-1 and earned the opportunity to extend that to a daunting 3-1 advantage on their home ice Friday.

It was the fourth time the Rangers goaltender allowed five or more goals in a single game this season against the Lightning.

Nikita Kucherov buried the game-winner in overtime, and Ondrej Palat scored twice and dished out an assist. Jesper Fast spearheaded the New York attack with two goals.

Despite the eventual loss, the Rangers wasted little time making their impact felt on the road.

Tampa Bay's Cedric Paquette went to the penalty box for roughing 26 seconds into the game, and New York capitalized with the first goal on the ensuing power play. Sean Hartnett of WFAN 660 in New York and Bryan Burns of TampaBayLightning.com described the play:

Chris Kreider helped set up the first goal with an effective screen and then hit Fast with a beautiful feed on a breakaway to open a 2-0 lead. Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune noted the Lightning had nobody to blame but themselves for the second goal:

New York's quick start was not a surprise given Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh's strong comments after a 6-2 loss in Game 2, per Hartnett: 

"

It's embarrassing. There are a lot of things you want to say right now but talking doesn't do much. Our guys better figure it out quickly here and realize that stupid, selfish penalties are going to cost us against this team. They have too much skill. (We were) shooting ourselves in the foot from the very first few minutes. That is not going to give us a chance to win.

There's a lot of areas here that's very uncharacteristic. At the end of the day, it's a loss. We can't afford to do it again. That's the main thing.

"

The Lightning struck back in the middle of the first period when Steven Stamkos forced a turnover and capitalized on a rebound on the subsequent offensive opportunity. New York took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

The Rangers missed multiple opportunities to build on their lead early in the second period on the power play. Hartnett and Andrew Gross of the Record in New Jersey acknowledged the troublesome play:

As is so often the case in sports, New York paid for its missed chances. The Lightning tied the game at two on a power play of their own when Tyler Johnson hit Palat with a perfect pass near the slot for an impressive goal.

Lightning reporter Michelle Gingras noted the effectiveness of Tampa Bay's power play in this series after the game-tying goal:

The Palat-Johnson combination worked its magic again merely minutes later when Palat fed Johnson for the go-ahead goal. It was Johnson's 12th goal of the postseason, and Burns pointed out he made some history in the process:

The two-man attack impressed Andrew Astleford of Fox Sports Florida and Dan Rosen of NHL.com:

Tampa Bay added to its lead when Alex Killorn deked two defenders and drilled one in the back of the net, but New York answered less than 30 seconds later with a goal of its own from Fast. The Lightning held a narrow 4-3 lead after a back-and-forth second period. 

Chris Healey of SportsNation noted New York had a problem on its hands with Tampa Bay's attack:

The defense was a concern, but the Rangers offense answered worries about the power play with an early game-tying goal in the third period off the stick of Ryan McDonagh. Rosen praised the play:

While Lundqvist was effective throughout the middle portion of the final period, Palat beat him once again for the go-ahead goal with crafty stick work with less than six minutes remaining. Rosen and Burns described the silky-smooth play:

Jamie Thomas of Sportsnet pointed out Lundqvist just wasn't himself Wednesday, while Dory LeBlanc of 620 WDAE in Tampa Bay noted the Lightning simply have the superstar's number this season:

Just when it looked to be over, Dan Boyle slammed home a loose puck in front of the net with less than two minutes remaining to tie the game at five. It was a testament to New York's resilience that it continued to fight back every time the Lightning took the lead and ultimately forced overtime.

Tampa Bay didn't make its fans anxiously wait around too long for the game-winner in overtime. Kucherov took the puck near center ice, skated through multiple defenders and fired a wrist shot past Lundqvist 3:33 into the extra period for the decisive goal.

Todd Fuhrman of Fox Sports 1 noted the defensive breakdown was a fitting way to end the back-and-forth contest:

What's Next?

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Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Final is Friday night in Tampa Bay.

It is technically not a must-win for the Rangers, but another loss would put them in a difficult 3-1 hole going back home. It is hard to envision New York beating this Lightning offense three times in a row, even if Games 5 and 7 would be in Madison Square Garden.

As for Tampa Bay, it will also come out with plenty of urgency in Game 4 because one loss is all it takes to lose home-ice advantage. The Lightning must find a way to capitalize on this opportunity; otherwise, they will be forced to win another game on the road to win this series.

That is a difficult task, even against a struggling Lundqvist.