Who needs rest?

Two days removed from their Game 7 win in Carolina, the Rangers returned to Madison Square Garden last night and opened the Eastern Conference Final with a stunningly one-sided 6-2 win over the two-time defending champion Lightning, who were playing for the first time in nine days.

It took the Rangers 71 seconds to begin cracking the aura of invincibility surrounding Tampa Bay goaltender and reigning Conn Smythe Award winner Andrei Vasilevskiy, who gave up the first goal of the game to Chris Kreider (ninth of the postseason) and ended up surrendering twice as many goals as he did during the entire four-game sweep against the top-seeded Florida Panthers and their top-ranked offense.

While the Rangers embarrassed the all-time playoff performer — Vasilevskiy entered at 8-3 with a 2.23 goals-against-average and .932 save percentage this postseason — Vezina Trophy favorite Igor Shesterkin made 37 saves. The Rangers received a pair of goals from Filip Chytil, with Frank Vatrano, Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad also chipping in.