New York Rangers Fall to Kings in Overtime

New York Rangers vs Anze Kopitar

The New York Rangers seemed to have everything going there way. They were on a winning streak, scored three unanswered goals and they even performed will on special teams. The New York Rangers were up, 3-4, with 30 seconds left in the third period and with the blink of an eye, everything came crashing down.

With time expiring in the final period of the game, the Kings pulled their goalie and possessed the puck in the Rangers zone. This is when the man of the night, Anze Kopitar, hit the Rangers with a dagger.

Kopitar completed his hat trick in MSG by hitting the game tying, overtime sending goal, which came with 29 seconds left in the game. This goal would have been much less painful to watch if it was actually a clean shot. Unfortunately, it was not and as the tape will prove, the hockey gods were in Kopitar’s corner last night. When he let the wrist shot go, the puck found its way to Kevin Klein’s shoulder where it then gently bounced over Antti Raanta’s blocker and sent the game to overtime.

In overtime, the Rangers had two excellent chances to score, but they just couldn’t find the back of the net, unlike the Kings. Tanner Pearson ended the game in overtime on a shot that should have been blocked by Raanta, but it is easy for me to point the finger behind a keyboard.

The loss was a hard pill to swallow. The game was intense, extremely physical, quick and exciting. To come out on the losing side of a game like that is tough. Especially when the Rangers fell 2-0 early on in the game, but serged in the second period. Heading into the third the game was all even at 3-3 when Mats Zuccarello made a brilliant and useful offensive play. Skating past a defender and placing the puck right on Kevin Hayes’ tape as if it were a package delivered by god himself. From there, Hayes finished the job and placed the puck in the net.

Well, you know what they say, the good lord givith and the good lord takith away.

Starting to Quiet Critics

The New York Rangers showed that they could hang with a very good Kings team without two key players, Nash and McDonagh, who are still inactive. The effort was definitely there and it was noticeable.

All you have to do is look at Girardi’s shot block to see what I am talking about. That block earned him respect from every single doubter and hater of his out there. I mean this thing was shot out of a cannon and Girardi took it right to the knee from only about five feet away and after laying motionless on the ice for a few seconds he went straight to the bench. The bench. Not the locker room to get looked at. The bench so that he wouldn’t miss a single shift. I swear the man is made of steel. Anyway, the game could have gone either way and the goal scored with 30 seconds left, 9 out of 10 times doesn’t register.