Palat's goal with 42 seconds left lifts the Lightning past the Rangers in Game 3

WUSF | By Associated Press

Published June 6, 2022 at 8:02 AM EDT

Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Ondrej Palat (18) reacts after scoring past New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (31) during the third period in Game 3 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Eastern Conference finals Sunday, June 5, 2022, in Tampa.

Ondrej Palat scored with 42 seconds left and the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Sunday to cut their deficit in the Eastern Conference finals to 2-1.

Palat’s goal, off a nifty pass from Nikita Kucherov, capped a comeback that began after Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider scored power-play goals in a span of just over two minutes in the second period to put the Rangers up 2-0.

Facing the prospect of falling behind 3-0, the Lightning rallied with Kucherov scoring on the power play in the second period and Steven Stamkos tying it early in the third. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves for the Lightning.

It was the Lightning's first win against the Rangers in six games this season.

Game 4 is Tuesday night in Tampa.