Tampa Bay to Battle Familiar Foe

After battling the New Jersey Devils to a tie before losing in the shootout, the Tampa Bay Lightning will continue their road trip against the New York Rangers tonight in Madison Square Garden.

The team will take the point they earned by staging two comebacks in the third period against the Devils and take a short trip across the Hudson for what will be the third meeting of the season, but first in North America, between these two teams. The Lightning and the Rangers opened the season with two games that were played in Prague, Czech Republic.

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Photos: vs. NYR (10-05-08) Video: vs. NYR (10-05-08) Watch Parties M. Smith on NHL Live! (11-04-08)

The Lightning, 4-3-4 and tied for second place in the Southeast Division, will be looking for their first win of the season against the Rangers, 10-4-1. New York currently leads in the Atlantic Division with 21 points.

The Rangers are one point out of the total point lead in the NHL, and have gotten off to a fast start this season with a balanced scoring attack. Markus Naslund and Nikolai Zherdev share the team lead in goals scored with five and share the team point lead with 12, along with Brandon Dubinsky.

The Lightning have earned seven points in their last four games and they have grabbed points in eight of their last nine games.

Tonight’s game marks the second in a five game road swing before the Lightning return home to face the Detroit Red Wings, November 13th, at the St. Pete Times Forum.