TAMPA, Fla. — The Rangers vowed not to let it happen again. They vowed that the Monday debacle was just an anomaly, as rare as a blizzard here, and that never again in these playoffs would they put forth such a poor effort.
That is what the Rangers said, and they were right. The proceedings at Amalie Arena on Wednesday night revealed their resilience and their pluck. They also exposed the Rangers’ primary flaw, which is a failure to recognize that the Tampa Bay Lightning’s best players need only a sliver of ice to perform their wizardry.