TAMPA, Fla. — Secondary scoring has been a sore spot for the Rangers in the early part of this season, but last night at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, they saw what it could be like when they get goals from anyone besides their mega-line.
In a 3-2 win over the Lightning, the Rangers got goals from Derek Stepan and Carl Hagelin, both their first of the season, with the third of their unit, Taylor Pyatt, assisting on both.
“We built a little chemistry tonight and it was great,” Stepan said. “Taylor seems to be able to hold onto pucks on the wall more than I’ve ever seen, and Carl is on the puck before anyone else can get to it. So it seems to be kind of a good mix right now.”
Going back to last season’s playoffs, it was the first goal for Stepan in 21 games and the first for Hagelin in 36.
“It was good to help the team win,” said Hagelin, whose goal in the third period turned out to be the game-winner. “It’s always nice to score goals, but the most important thing to take out of this game is how the team played.”
Though the bottom two lines did very little — and played very little — it was the second line that made those worries disappear for a least one night.
“It feels good to get the monkey off the back,” Stepan said.
* Coach John Tortorella has been preaching to his team to be more disciplined, and his players finally listened. The Rangers came into the game as the fifth-most penalized team in the league — including a league-leading four bench minors — but they took just one minor and stayed out of trouble.
“We were disciplined,” Tortorella said. “I thought out line changes were better. We talked about that. Those little things add up to giving you a fair shake to win a hockey game.”
The one penalty the Rangers did take was on Stu Bickel, who was called for hooking in the second period and the Lightning’s terrific power play easily netted one off the stick of Steven Stamkos, his sixth of the season.
* Ryan Callahan missed his second game because of a partially dislocated left shoulder. … Rookie forward Chris Kreider was scratched for the fifth straight game as he comes back from a bone chip in his right ankle. He took part in the morning skate, and is taking it day-to-day.
* Defenseman Steve Eminger was scratched for his third consecutive game after playing three in a row, and his spot was taken by Matt Gilroy, dressing for his second straight game