NEW YORK -- Tyler Johnson delivered once again for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The diminutive center registered the first hat trick in franchise history as the Lightning demolished the New York Rangers 6-2 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.

The best-of-seven series is tied at 1 as the teams head to Tampa for Game 3 on Wednesday.

Johnson has 11 goals in the playoffs after scoring the Lightning's first three goals of Game 2.

Not too shabby for an undrafted guy out of Spokane, Wash.

"The bigger the game, the better he plays," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "That's Tyler Johnson. It's unreal to watch. He put the team on his back, and we all followed."

Johnson said, "I've been fortunate to have a great team, great line that have been kind of finding me, and I've been getting some bounces like tonight."

Johnson opened the scoring at 5:38 of the first period with a short-handed, breakaway goal. The play essentially occurred during a three-on-five situation, as center Brian Boyle hadn't stepped out of the box despite his penalty expiring.

Johnson buried a four-on-three power-play goal at 11:15 of the first to put the Lightning ahead 2-1 after left winger Chris Kreider pulled the Rangers into a 1-1 tie less three minutes earlier.

With the teams at even strength, Johnson tapped home a rebound at 8:17 of the second period after left winger Ondrej Palat hit the post on an odd-man rush. The goal gave Tampa Bay a 3-2 lead and proved to be the winner, Johnson's fourth of the playoffs.

The line of Johnson, Palat and right winger Nikita Kucherov had the Lightning's only goal in the 2-1 loss in Game 1. The trio combined for three goals and four assists in Game 2, with Kucherov recording three helpers.

"That was huge," said Lightning right winger Steven Stamkos, who scored a power-play goal in the third period. "There's not much more we can say about those guys. They've been unbelievable for us all year. They feed off each other. Johnny really led the way early, that short-handed goal was huge. Power-play goal, even-strength goal. We expect a lot from that line, and they deliver. "

Tampa Bay left winger Alex Killorn added two insurance goals in the third period, one on a power play. The Lightning went 3-for-6 on the power play and are 4-for-10 in the series.

Goaltender Ben Bishop made 35 saves, including two big stops on a Rangers power play not long before Killorn gave the Lightning a 4-2 lead.

"Your goalie has got to make some plays for you," Cooper said. "Ultimately, he's the last line of defense, and usually he's the guy that gets the finger pointed to him if he hasn't done well. But more often than not, when they do well, they should be patted on the back, and that's what Bish has done for us."

It was a rare off night for Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who allowed six goals on 26 shots. He allowed six goals total in his previous four games, and he hadn't allowed six goals in a playoff game since 2006.

Left winger Chris Kreider and center Derek Stepan collected the goals for the Rangers, who have scored two goals or fewer in 10 of their past 12 games.

"It's embarrassing," Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh said. "There are a lot of things you want to say right now, but talking doesn't do much. Our guys better figure it out quickly here and realize that stupid, selfish penalties are going to cost us against this team."

Lundqvist said, "A lot of good things we did in the first game, we were missing today. I felt we worked hard, but I don't think we were very smart. Penalties, losing the puck in the wrong area -- it's something we have to correct and do a lot better in the next game."

It was a huge bounce-back effort by the Lightning. Now they have to find a way to carry it over to their home ice.

"We came out to win the game," Killorn said. "In the first game, I think we were kind of happy to be here and we didn't realize what we were up against. Now we know what we're up against, and we really played to win the game tonight."

NOTES: Linesman Brad Kovachik left the game with a knee injury and was replaced by Greg Devorski late in the second period. .... The Lightning made two lineup changes for Game 2. C Brian Boyle, who missed Game 1 with an undisclosed injury, took the place of C Vladislav Namestnikov, and Nikita Nesterov served as a seventh defenseman, replacing RW Jonathan Marchessault. ... Lightning C/LW Jonathan Drouin was a healthy scratch. ... New York RW Mats Zuccarello, who has not played since Game 7 of the first round, skated on his own Monday. The Rangers have not disclosed his injury, but it is very likely a concussion. ... Rangers D Matt Hunwick was a healthy scratch. ... New York's record streak of 15 consecutive one-goal postseason games ended with the blowout loss.