The Tampa Bay Lightning will have a chance to send the New York Rangers on vacation and reach a third straight Stanley Cup Final after winning 3-1 at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

Former Montreal Canadiens Mikhail Sergachev played the heroes by scoring the first two goals for the "Bolts". He propelled his team to victory by hitting the target with 1 min 50 s. to do at the meeting.

We finally had a low-scoring duel between Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy. The latter had the upper hand over his compatriot, stopping 24 of the 25 opposing shots. Shesterkin had nothing to reproach himself for in the defeat, he who managed 26 parries.

Defender Ryan Lindgren opened the scoring in the second period for the "Blueshirts" with a shot from a tight angle. It was only his eighth goal in the National Hockey League in 213 games, regular season and playoffs combined.

Sergachev calmed down New York fans at Madison Square Garden minutes later. His shot from the point, which seemed harmless, found its way to the back of the Rangers cage. The Russian fullback hadn't threaded the needle in his last 39 playoff games.

Striker Brandon Hagel sealed the outcome of the game by sliding the disc into an abandoned cage at the very end of the game.

Both teams return to Tampa on Saturday for Game 6 of the series.