How Brayden Point reversed course to lead the Lightning to a comeback

TAMPA — After one period Thursday night, the Lightning trailed the Rangers by two goals and Brayden Point was minus-2.

It was a rough start for the Lightning’s top center, but with the regular season winding down, there was no time to dwell on it. Point spent the next 40 minutes playing as if he was in video-game mode on the easy setting.

Point tied a franchise record with six points in the game — including his fourth career hat trick and third this season — propelling the Lightning to a much-needed 6-3 comeback victory over the Metropolitan Division-leading Rangers at Amalie Arena.

“These points are huge for us,” said Point, who six points were a career game high. “We’re battling for a playoff spot here. So yeah, you definitely take it personally. You never want to let the team down. So I think our mindset was just trying to get it back one at a time, not trying to force anything, but we’re just trying to play our way.”

With the win, the Lightning (35-25-6, 76 points) are four points ahead of the Islanders and Red Wings in the first wild-card playoff position in the Eastern Conference with 16 games remaining.

“We have a group that wants to make the playoffs, and they believe they can,” coach Jon Cooper said. “By no means is one win putting us in the playoffs. We still have a long way to go, but early in the year, I think with this group, and with so many new faces, we have probably found a way to lose that game.

“And now, with under 20 (game) left, this team is finding a way to win those games. And (the Rangers are) going to be heard from in the playoffs. That’s an exceptional team.”

Down early

The Lightning have had several games get out of hand after falling behind early this season, and Thursday night had the makings of one of them.

With a little more than six minutes left in the first period, the Rangers had a 2-on-1 breakaway and Point was on the backcheck. He played forward Vincent Trocheck, the puck carrier, leaving 36-goal scorer Artemi Panarin open for a cross-crease pass and an open net to give New York a 1-0 lead.

Point also found himself out of place on the Rangers’ second goal. He was along the opposite post when New York forward Mika Zibanejad sent a centering pass from behind the net to uncovered defenseman Braden Schneider in front of the net. Schneider put the puck past Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Rangers fans took over the building with numerous chants.

“(The Rangers are) so dynamic off the rush and breaking out,” Point said. “I think in the first and early second, we were making it too easy for them to do that. … So just trying to stay on top of them and limit their time and space was a big one for us.”

Second-period comeback

Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene

Subscribe to our free Sports Today newsletter

We’ll send you news and analysis on the Bucs, Lightning, Rays and Florida’s college football teams every day.

Loading...

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

The Lightning dodged a bullet by killing off Victor Hedman’s slashing penalty midway through the second period, and Point then made a heady defensive play at the Rangers’ blue line, intercepting a pass with his stick and creating a 2-on-1 with Nikita Kucherov that ended with Point’s first goal of the night.

Cooper shuffled his lines in the second period, and forward Anthony Duclair, playing his second game since being acquired at the trade deadline, found himself skating with Point and Kucherov. It was no coincidence that the Lightning scored on Duclair’s first two shifts on the top line.

In the last two minutes of the second, Point put a shot on net that Duclair chased into the corner. Duclair then found Point open in the slot, circled around the back of the net, found a rebound through traffic along the back post and scored his second goal in as many games to tie the score at 2.

“Anytime you get in that top six, no matter who you’re playing with, it’s going to be a show,” Duclair said.” For myself, I just want to get out of the way and use my speed and create some open space for them and let them do their thing.”

Taking control

The Rangers fans came back to life when forward Jack Roslovic’s goal 1:48 into the third gave New York the lead again, but Point answered less than two minutes later, taking advantage of open space in 4-on-4 play. He drifted into the offensive zone along the left wing, took a pass from Hedman, used some excellent stick work to get past Rangers defenseman Erik Gustafsson and tipped the puck up past goalie Igor Shesterkin.

Point’s best play of the night might have been assisting on the Lightning’s go-ahead goal on a power play. He took a pass from Kucherov, spun around Zibanejad with his back to the net, then found Steven Stamkos for a one-timer from the left circle to give Tampa Bay a 4-3 lead that quieted the New York fans.

Point’s third goal came with 5:12 remaining in regulation and sent hats onto the ice. Kucherov’s empty-netter with 3:38 left capped a five-point night for him and sent the Rangers fans to the exits.

“You do feel it both ways,” Stamkos said of the crowd, which resembled a playoff atmosphere.

“There was a lot of Rangers fans, and you’re down 2-0 early, and they get the chants going. So you want to quiet that a little bit. And I thought we did a good job of that. And obviously, it was nice to hear our fans at the end of the game.”

Only two other times has a Lightning player scored six points in a game. Defenseman Doug Crossman did it during the Lightning’s inaugural 1992-93 season, and Kucherov accomplished it this season on Nov. 24, 2023, at Carolina.

Contact Eduardo A. Encina at eencina@tampabay.com. Follow @EddieintheYard.

• • •

Sign up for the Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.

Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on Instagram, X and Facebook.