Lightning vs Rangers

See expert picks, TV schedule and odds for Friday's Game 2 between the Lightning and Rangers.

Through the first six games of the series, he was at an .885 save percentage and hadn’t allowed fewer than three goals. We’ve seen better games from Igor Shesterkin in the playoffs, and the rest of the lineup did more than enough to take the game out of “Steal one, Igor” territory — more on that shortly — but this series was supposed to, and will, revolve around the matchup between Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy. Game 1 went to Shesterkin. It wasn’t close. The Rangers’ ability to draw out the Round 1 (Games 1-6) version of Vasilevskiy. Lost a bit in the Goalie Showdown (and it’s understandable, given how great he was against Florida) was the simple fact that Vasilevskiy, for a solid chunk of games there against Toronto, looked decidedly human. That wasn’t the case in Game 1 — you could’ve rolled an eight-sided die to figure out which Ranger walked away with it and been correct, no matter what. Did the New York Rangers solve Andrei Vasilevskiy and the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1? Every day during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, The Athletic’s writers will make their picks, straight up. Game 5*: Lightning at Rangers Game 4: Rangers at Lightning These Rangers have been underdogs since the playoffs started against the Penguins and Hurricanes and won both of those series. And Tampa Bay is still favored on the moneyline in Friday’s game and all of The Athletic’s experts think the Lightning will bounce back at Madison Square Garden. Game 3: Rangers at Lightning Game 2: Lightning at Rangers