NEW YORK -- After two straight games in which they allowed 10 goals, goaltender Ben Bishop and the Tampa Bay Lightning knew they needed to improve defensively if they were to have a chance at emerging victorious in the Eastern Conference finals.

In Game 5 on Sunday night, both Bishop and the Lightning responded with one of their best games of the postseason.

Bishop stopped 26 shots as the Lightning blanked the New York Rangers 2-0 at Madison Square Garden to grab a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. The Lightning can clinch their first appearances in a Cup final since 2004 with a Game 6 win in Tampa on Tuesday night.

"We weren't happy with the last couple games with the amount of scoring chances we were giving up," Bishop said after his second postseason shutout. "We looked at it and we talked about it. I thought we did a better job tonight. Guy (were) coming up with huge blocked shots at the end there."

The Rangers had just 21 shots at even strength and went 0-for-4 on the power play, mustering just four shots with the man advantage. In their previous three games, the Rangers had six power-play goals.

Lightning centers Valtteri Filppula and Steven Stamkos scored in the second period, with Stamkos' goal coming on the power play with 1:38 remaining.

"We would like to get one obviously, and they convert on theirs," Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said. "We just weren't able to find a way to get one tonight. You have to find different ways to win hockey games. We could just find ways to get one behind (Bishop) tonight."

The Rangers will again have their resolve tested; since 2012, they are 14-3 when facing elimination and overcame a 3-1 deficit in the second round against the Washington Capitals during this postseason.

"It's a race to four," Rangers center Derek Stepan said. "It doesn't matter how many games the other team wins. We have to beat them to four games. We have to go into their building and find a way to get it done."

It will be tough for the Rangers to force a Game 7 if Bishop plays as well and confidently as he did Sunday. The night didn't start well for him during warmups, when defenseman Nikita Nesterov left his goaltender in discomfort by hitting him square in the groin region with a slap shot.

Bishop left the ice gingerly after trying to skate it off. It would be the last bit of discomfort he'd feel on this night.

"I would say he looked really confident in the net," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We've watched this in two previous series. As the series have gone on, and the longer they've gone on, he's elevated his game. It's when you know he's back there and he's playing with that confidence, and the way he's playing the puck, he's making that first save. He's not giving up rebounds. He's just commanding the net."

The Lightning know what awaits them at home in Game 6. They are a young team with many of their players getting their first taste of a deep postseason run, while the Rangers are a veteran club that won't be the slightest bit fazed by being on the brink of elimination.

"I talked about it this morning about realizing how close you are," said Stamkos, who was part of the 2011 team that lost in seven games in the conference finals. "The toughest one to win is the fourth one, especially at this time of the year, when it's to go to the Final.

"So we're going to get some rest. We're going to regroup. We're going to watch the film, watch the things that we did well, and obviously try to do it again."

NOTES: Lightning D Matt Carle returned after missing Game 4 with an undisclosed injury and played 18:08. ... Lightning D Braydon Coburn played just 5:43 and did not take a shift after the first period. Coach Jon Cooper hinted he may have been ill and would provide an update Monday. ... Lightning scratches included RW Jonathan Marchessault, LW Jonathan Drouin