The two-time defending Stanley Cup champs aren’t going quietly after all.

The Eastern Conference Finals may have changed drastically Sunday afternoon after the Lightning erased a two-goal Rangers lead and won Game 3 on a late goal in Tampa.

Ondrej Palat tallied one with 41.6 seconds left to lift Tampa Bay to a 3-2 victory. It trimmed the Rangers’ lead to two games to one in the best-of-7 series. The loss ended the Rangers’ four-game winning streak in the playoffs.

The Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the second period on power-play goals by Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. Kreider’s goal was the 34th of his playoff career, matching Rod Gilbert’s franchise record.

The goalie showcase between Igor Shesterkin and Andrei Vasilevskiy continued. Shesterkin stopped 48 of 51 shots and Vasilevskiy had 28 saves on 30 shots. Both were tested several times.

Here are the takeaways:

- The first period was quite active, though it ended scoreless. The Rangers had one power play with 11:57 left, but it did not amount to anything. They had two shots on goal, including a Kreider opportunity at the top of the crease. But the best chance of the sequence was for the Lightning. Nikita Kucherov, who was penalized when he let his stick get so high it smacked Artemi Panarin, came out of the penalty box, took a long pass from ex-Ranger Ryan McDonagh and bore down on Shesterkin on a breakaway. Shesterkin made a save with his right pad.

- With about nine minutes left in the first, the Rangers had a flurry in their offensive zone, helped by a Tampa giveaway. Vasilevskiy shined, though, making quality saves on Barclay Goodrow and Tyler Motte, two of the Rangers’ 12 shots in the opener. The Lightning had 15. Vasilevskiy also made a nifty save on Jacob Trouba during the period.

- Tampa’s Victor Hedman, one of the NHL’s top defensemen, wrecked a 2-on-1 chance for the Rangers with his stick and slid to block another decent look in the period.

- Early in the second period, Ryan Strome came off the ice in pain after he was whacked in the back by Palat. Strome was helped to the locker room and briefly returned, but went back to the locker room. During the third period, ESPN reported that Strome would not return because of a lower-body injury.

- The Rangers took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Zibanejad at 7:37 of the second. It was one of his patented one-timers and the ESPN broadcast had the shot measured at 94 miles per hour. It was his 10th goal of the playoffs and his sixth on the power play. That matches Adam Graves’ franchise record for power-play goals in the playoffs, set in 1996. Corey Perry of the Lightning was penalized for slashing after smacking Shesterkin in the facemask with his stick, setting up the advantage.

- With 10:16 left in the second, Kreider blasted home a rebound of another Zibanejad one-timer, another power play goal. It was Kreider’s 10th goal of the playoffs. In addition to matching Gilbert’s franchise record for playoff goals, it was Kreider’s 62nd goal overall, including the regular season, matching Graves’ franchise record set in 1994. The Rangers got the power play when Riley Nash plowed into Shesterkin and was penalized for goalie interference.

- The Lightning got their crowd back into the game after Trouba was whistled for interference with 9:51 left in the second. On the power play, Kucherov scored on a one-timer off a pass from Hedman. It was Kucherov’s 50th career playoff goal and his sixth of these playoffs.

- Earlier in the period, K’Andre Miller of the Rangers made a fine defensive play to create an excellent chance for a shorthanded goal. He stole the puck and the play led to a two-on-one chance with Goodrow. Miller passed the puck to Goodrow, who hit the left post.

- The Lightning came out crackling in the third and cashed an early power play. Just 37 seconds into the period, Trouba was sent off for holding. With the advantage, the Lightning scored when Steven Stamkos took a beautiful cross-ice pass from Perry and hammered a one-timer past Shesterkin from the top of the left circle. The puck grazed Shesterkin’s shoulder on the way, struck the crossbar and went in. It was Stamkos’ sixth goal of the playoffs.

- Goodrow was in agony after blocking a slap shot by Hedman in the third period. He got hit in the left foot, hobbled off during a Tampa power play and went to the locker room. But he returned not long after.

- Kucherov was slapped with a double-minor for high-sticking when his stick went up and hit Zibanejad in the face with 9:04 left. But the Rangers couldn’t score and they didn’t even enjoy the full four-minute advantage because Trouba was called for his third minor of the day 27 seconds before the midway point.

- Zibanejad and Fox both have eight-game point streaks. The last Ranger player with a nine-game point streak in the playoffs? Wayne Gretzky in 1997.

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