Final
TBL at NYR game report
Thursday, October 1, 2026 · 7:00 p.m. ET · Madison Square Garden
Rangers beat the Lightning 5–1 in an even game: expected goals were 2.8–2.7 and 12–11 in high-danger chances.
Team comparison
- 5Goals1
- 2.67Expected goals2.76
- 2.055-on-5 expected goals1.87
- 11High-danger chances12
- 25Shots on goal24
- 52Shot attempts63
- 395-on-5 shot attempts42
- 2:39Power-play time13:16
5-on-5 shares for NYR: 48.1% of shot attempts, 52.2% of expected goals.
Expected goals leave out shots at an empty net (NYR 1.31, TBL 0.00); they're in the “Other” row of By strength.
Expected goals through the game
Each step is a shot; the bigger the step, the better the chance. A goal on a small step was a low-percentage finish. Shots at an empty net add no step.
Shot map
By strength
| NYR at… | Time | Attempts | xG | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 on 5 | 38:38 | 39–42 | 2.05–1.87 | 3–1 |
| Power play | 2:39 | 4–9 | 0.23–0.51 | 1–0 |
| Shorthanded | 13:16 | 0–1 | 0.00–0.00 | 0–0 |
| Other (4 on 4, 3 on 3, empty net) | 5:27 | 9–11 | 1.70–0.38 | 1–0 |
Read pairs as NYR–TBL. “Power play” means NYR had the extra skater.
Goaltending
| Goalie | Saves | SV% | xGA | GSAx |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrei Vasilevskiy TBL | 20/24 | .833 | 2.67 | -1.33 |
| Igor Shesterkin NYR | 23/24 | .958 | 2.76 | +1.76 |
GSAx above zero means the goalie stopped more than an average goalie would have, given the shots faced.
Player ratings
Out of 10, from each player's Game Score (goals, assists, shots, blocks, penalties, faceoffs and 5-on-5 shot and goal differential while on the ice) compared with every NHL game of the last two seasons. 6 is above average, 7 very good, 8 excellent. Goalies are rated on goals saved above expected. ★ = top three of the night. How ratings work
Average ratingRangers6.2Lightning5.6
| ★Top three of the night: Mika ZibanejadFNYR | 8.1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 18:53 | 56.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★Top three of the night: Pavel DorofeyevFNYR | 7.6 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 13:44 | 40.9 |
| ★Top three of the night: Adam FoxDNYR | 7.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19:04 | 63.3 |
| Igor ShesterkinGNYR | 7.3 | 1 | 0 | — | 60:00 | — |
| Gabe PerreaultFNYR | 7.2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10:46 | 57.1 |
| Eeli TolvanenFNYR | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 14:18 | 55.0 |
| Nikita KucherovFTBL | 6.9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 24:07 | 58.3 |
| Ilya MikheyevFTBL | 6.6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10:56 | 48.0 |
| Oliver BjorkstrandFNYR | 6.6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 12:25 | 45.5 |
| Anthony CirelliFTBL | 6.6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 19:56 | 68.4 |
| Brandon HagelFTBL | 6.6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 23:40 | 73.7 |
| Alexis LafrenièreFNYR | 6.5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15:15 | 60.9 |
| Brayden PointFTBL | 6.4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 22:38 | 52.0 |
| Jake GuentzelFTBL | 6.2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 24:02 | 66.7 |
| John CarlsonDTBL | 6.1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 23:41 | 56.7 |
| Noah LabaFNYR | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16:14 | 43.5 |
| Ryan McDonaghDTBL | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15:46 | 72.2 |
| Marcus PetterssonDNYR | 5.9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21:38 | 50.0 |
| Will CuylleFNYR | 5.7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14:12 | 58.8 |
| Vladislav GavrikovDNYR | 5.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23:20 | 53.6 |
| Alberts SmitsDNYR | 5.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14:09 | 40.6 |
| J.T. MillerFNYR | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15:33 | 52.2 |
| Erik CernakDTBL | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16:00 | 52.4 |
| Joseph VelenoFNYR | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14:45 | 41.7 |
| Victor HedmanDTBL | 5.4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17:45 | 41.9 |
| Charle-Edouard D'AstousDTBL | 5.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19:07 | 48.1 |
| Pontus HolmbergFTBL | 5.2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14:59 | 46.2 |
| Braden SchneiderDNYR | 5.2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18:48 | 34.5 |
| Sean DurziDNYR | 5.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20:54 | 50.0 |
| Conor GeekieFTBL | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12:32 | 41.2 |
| Zemgus GirgensonsFTBL | 5.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7:39 | 52.9 |
| Gage GoncalvesFTBL | 4.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12:09 | 33.3 |
| Andrei VasilevskiyGTBL | 4.9 | 0 | 0 | — | 55:52 | — |
| Jeffrey VielFTBL | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8:49 | 47.6 |
| Jaroslav ChmelarFNYR | 4.8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6:18 | 21.4 |
| Tye KartyeFNYR | 4.7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14:47 | 30.0 |
| Jansen HarkinsFTBL | 4.7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10:55 | 33.3 |
| J.J. MoserDTBL | 4.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14:54 | 47.1 |
Lines used
Each team's most-used forward lines and defence pairs at 5 on 5, from the NHL's shift charts · time together · shot attempts for–against · expected goals for–against
Rangers
Forward lines
- Zibanejad – Lafrenière – Perreault8:48 · 12–8 · xG 0.7–0.4
- Miller – Bjorkstrand – Dorofeyev8:25 · 9–11 · xG 0.6–0.5
- Tolvanen – Cuylle – Laba7:56 · 10–4 · xG 0.6–0.2
- Veleno – Kartye – Chmelar4:44 · 3–7 · xG 0.2–0.6
Defence pairs
- Pettersson – Durzi10:09 · 9–10 · xG 0.5–0.3
- Gavrikov – Fox10:05 · 14–6 · xG 0.9–0.5
- Schneider – Smits9:24 · 8–13 · xG 0.5–0.8
Lightning
Forward lines
- Guentzel – Cirelli – Hagel8:05 · 9–4 · xG 0.2–0.1
- Kucherov – Point – Mikheyev6:52 · 11–9 · xG 0.6–0.4
- Harkins – Goncalves – Geekie5:04 · 5–6 · xG 0.3–0.3
- Girgensons – Viel – Holmberg4:59 · 8–7 · xG 0.6–0.4
Defence pairs
- McDonagh – Cernak10:57 · 10–4 · xG 0.4–0.1
- Hedman – D'Astous10:44 · 12–13 · xG 0.8–0.7
- Carlson – Moser9:23 · 14–13 · xG 0.4–0.8
Three stars
- ★I. ShesterkinNYR · .958 SV%
- ★★P. DorofeyevNYR · 1G 1A
- ★★★M. ZibanejadNYR · 1G 1A
Scoring
Period 1
- 05:34NYR M. Zibanejad pp (from P. Dorofeyev, A. Fox)0–1
- 10:51NYR P. Dorofeyev (from O. Bjorkstrand)0–2
Period 2
- 01:40NYR E. Tolvanen (from N. Laba)0–3
- 07:59TBL N. Kucherov (from I. Mikheyev, B. Point)1–3
- 16:01NYR G. Perreault (from A. Fox, M. Zibanejad)1–4
Period 3
- 17:26NYR I. Shesterkin1–5