NEW YORK—After falling behind midway through the game, the Tampa Bay Lightning showed the poise of a two-time defending champion. They rallied for another late victory to move a win away from returning to the Stanley Cup Final.
Ondrej Palat scored on a deflection with 1:50 remaining to break a tie and lead the Lightning to a 3–1 victory over the New York Rangers on Thursday night for a 3–2 lead in the Eastern Conference final.
“We just stayed patient,” Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos said. “We knew it would be a challenge in this atmosphere. We knew it would be a low-scoring grinding game. We continued our game plan and got rewarded.”…