New York Rangers Need Help After Loss to Edmonton Oilers

FIRST PERIOD: At Madison Square Garden, the Edmonton Oilers stole an early lead with a goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (5) assisted by Benoit Pouliot (4) and Jordan Eberle (7) at 3:19. The New York Rangers had several chances in front of the net, yet goalie Viktor Fasth was able to squash every one of them. Nugent-Hopkins tested the Rangers defense during each of his shifts, continually being dynamic on the ice and floating the puck through the neutral zone to create opportunities for the Oilers. The Broadway Blueshirts battled back to tie the game 1-1 when Carl Hagelin (4) fired from a sharp angle to score on a deflection off an Oiler at 12:34, Kevin Hayes (2) and Lee Stempniak (3) adding assists. On a chance to take the lead, Mats Zuccarello sauced the puck to Chris Kreider parked in front, yet was denied by Fasth. However, Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist played well post-to-post with great saves of his own when the team was unable to clear the zone. With less than a minute left, Hayes showed major improvement from the beginning of his season with an impressive shot on goal. The period ended with one apiece while Edmonton outshot the Rangers, 11-8.

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SECOND PERIOD: The first penalty of the game went to Eberle 34 seconds in for hooking. On the Rangers power play, Rick Nash drove hard around the net to try a wrap-around but failed to bury it. The Rangers then nearly gave up a shorthanded goal but finished the PP nonetheless. Marc Staal fell down and looked to be in pain as he left the ice, keeping his left arm close to his body. Staal kept strong and decided to stay in the game while MSG let out a sigh of relief. Oilers then found the scoresheet again, regaining the lead at 8:29 when Pouliot (2) registered a goal with an assist by none other than Nugent-Hopkins (5). The Oilers were close to scoring again (can you believe this Rangers fans?), yet Justin Schultz was robbed by Lundqvist with a spectacular glove save, one so spectacular that it had to be reviewed in Toronto and deemed a good one. Staal then took a penalty for tripping at 10:19. On the Oilers power play, Hagelin cleared the puck and the Rangers had an effective PK. Zuccarello then took a turn in the penalty box for high-sticking at 19:11, giving the Oilers a PP going into the third. Edmonton had the one goal edge at 2-1 and the upper hand in SOG, 13-6.

THIRD PERIOD: With Edmonton on the power play, the puck hit the crossbar and Hank had to bail out the Rangers until the teams were back to full strength. The Oilers controlled the puck like they had won the Stanley Cup just yesterday while the Rangers forecheck went missing altogether. There were no shots on goal for the Blueshirts more than halfway through the period until Tanner Glass (of all players) showed up with a SOG, 9:04 left in the game. A giveaway to Hayes led to a great chance, yet again was stopped by Fasth. With less than five minutes left on the clock, Kreider blew a chance and ended up with a penalty instead for goalie interference at 15:54. Lundqvist left the net with less than 2 minutes left and you could guess what happened next. The Oilers skated circles around the Rangers and Teddy Purcell (2) bagged an empty-net goal for the 3-1 lead at 18:33, Matt Hendricks (2) with the assist. Lundqvist went back in for the final face-off with 18.9 seconds left but the contest ended 3-1, Oilers. Rangers were outshot again, 9-7 this period and were beat in face-offs 38-28.

STARS OF THE GAME: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Henrik Lundqvist