Ryan Strome’s whiffed shot on an empty net haunts Rangers fans after Game 5 loss

This is tough to watch, Ryan Strome…

Ryan Strome is going to see this play in his nightmares for years to come.

With the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning tied 1-1 in the third period, Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final was set to come down to the wire. The Rangers were pressing late in the third period, looking for a chance to swing things back in New York’s way with the series itself tied 2-2.

On the Rangers best chance of the third period, Andrew Copp was able to get behind the Lightning defense and threaded a gorgeous pass to Strome. Unfortunately, Strome took the backhand pass from Copp… and just whiffed on it.

And the worst part? In front of Strome was a gaping wide open net, with Andrei Vasilevskiy well out of position to make a save.

Oh yeah, that’s rough. And a few minutes later, the Lightning capitalized on their own chance and made it 2-1 on Mikhail Sergachev’s second goal of the night, the eventual game-winner for Tampa Bay.

Now, the Rangers are facing down elimination headed back to Tampa Bay and Strome’s miss looms large. Rangers fans were, expectedly, agonizing over Strome’s huge whiff in a major turning point for this series.