Tampa Bay Lightning net 3-2 shootout victory over New York Rangers

NEW YORK — Coach Guy Boucher had a message for the Lightning after Thursday's morning skate.

"You've got to be tough."

It already had been a tough day for Tampa Bay, which lost star wing Marty St. Louis with facial and nasal fractures from being hit in the face during the skate by a puck on a backhand shot from Dominic Moore.

So how appropriate was it that Moore was the catalyst for a 3-2 shootout victory over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Moore's short-handed goal — on a backhander, no less — with 1:57 left in the third period, tied the score 2-2. He also scored the only goal in the shootout. Lightning goaltender Mathieu Garon made three saves.

The win snapped a five-game losing streak for Tampa Bay (12-14-2), which also got a second-period goal from Ryan Malone.

The Lightning also had a come-together moment. Captain Vinny Lecavalier, defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron and Steve Downie took turns attacking Artem Anisimov for his celebration after scoring to break a 1-1 tie with 6:37 left in the second.

The goal was short-handed, and Anisimov used his stick as a rifle to pretend he was shooting at the Lightning goal. That set off a fracas in which Bergeron ended up sparring with Brandon Dubinsky.

The event ended with 36 total combined penalty minutes and with Anisimov and Downie — who went after Anisimov after it appeared Anisimov baited him — getting 10-minute misconducts.

The Rangers had the better of play in the first period, outshot Tampa Bay 13-7 and took a 1-0 lead.

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead on Ryan Callahan's power-play goal 7:49 into the period. It appeared to be a bad goal in that Garon went down too early and gave Callahan a slot on the short side. Callahan went that way high and beat Garon easily.

Garon redeemed himself with 4:14 left when he stopped Jeff Woywitka at the end of a two-on-one with a quick left-leg save.

Things swung the other way in the second period as the Lightning had a 14-6 shot advantage. Yet, it still trailed 2-1.

Malone tied the score with 8:37 left when he scored from the slot after picking off Ryan McDonagh's terrible diagonal pass from a corner of the defensive zone. Malone stole the puck and walked in on Henrik Lund­qvist, who had no chance.

First Period—1, NYR, Callahan 11 (Richards, Stepan), 7:49 (pp). Penalties—Jones, TB (goaltender interference), 3:46; Downie, TB (tripping), 6:33; Tyrell, TB (tripping), 9:51.

Second Period—2, Tampa Bay, Malone 6, 11:23. 3, NYR, Anisimov 5 (Del Zotto, Dubinsky), 13:23 (sh). Penalties—Hagelin, NYR (hooking), 6:05; Eminger, NYR (high-sticking), 7:16; Moore, TB (slashing), 8:53; Del Zotto, NYR (roughing), 8:53; McDonagh, NYR (hooking), 11:53; Bergeron, TB, double minor (roughing), 13:23; Downie, TB, minor-misconduct (roughing), 13:23; Stamkos, TB (roughing), 13:23; Dubinsky, NYR, double minor (roughing), 13:23; Anisimov, NYR, double minor-misconduct (unsportsmanlike conduct, roughing), 13:23; Moore, TB (slashing), 15:34; Del Zotto, NYR (roughing), 15:34.

Third Period—4, Tampa Bay, Moore 2 (Hedman, Brewer), 18:03 (sh). Penalties—Pyatt, TB (hooking), 1:37; Malone, TB (roughing), 11:54; Malone, TB (boarding), 16:10.

Overtime—None. Penalties—None.

Shootout—Tampa Bay 1 (Malone NG, Moore G), NYR 0 (Mitchell NG, Richards NG, Gaborik NG). Shots on Goal—Tampa Bay 7-14-9-1—31. NYR 13-6-5-6—30. Power-play opportunities—Tampa Bay 0 of 4; NYR 1 of 6. Goalies—Tampa Bay, Garon 6-6-1 (30 shots-28 saves). NYR, Lundqvist 11-5-4 (31-29).