The Rangers sweep the Devils, dodging a bullet
By Steve Paulus
The New York Rangers have impressively found ways to win in recent games and they did it again Sunday, blowing a three goal lead, but winning on a late power play goal by birthday boy Mika Zibanejad. A loss would have been disastrous to their playoff hopes, but they walked away with a win and kept pace in the playoff race.
It was another in a series of strange games for the Rangers. For the fourth straight game, the Devils had more shot attempts than the Rangers and they got 30 shots through compared to 26 for the Blueshirts. Again, it was opportune goals and the power play that saved New York.
The Rangers followed the same script that they had written in the first three games. They got the lead early and built on it. Where the the first two games ended in shutouts, the third game the Devils threatened to pull even and in this game they actually did, tying the game 3-3 on two quick goals in the third period. It was the 11th time this season that the Rangers have blown a third period lead.
With the score tied and the Devils swarming, Ryan Murray took an ill advised hi-sticking penalty against Kappo Kakko with just over four minute left in the game. It took Mika Zibanejad, celebrating his 28th birthday, just 1:10 to score the game winning goal.
David Quinn looked relieved to be done with the Devils. “I thought we had a good second period. The goal at the end of the second kind of gave them momentum and the next thing you know it’s three to three. We found a way to get it done.” He added “Playing a team four times in a row and you come out with four wins, I don’t care what it looks like, I don’t care how many leads you blew…it doesn’t matter, it really doesn’t. You find ways to win and that’s what we did.”
He acknowledged that the team needs to improve if they want to keep winning, saying it was something not lost on the coaches or the players.
It was an important win for the Rangers’ playoff hopes. It was another tough day for scoreboard watching as the Bruins beat the Capitals and the Islanders won in overtime. The only good news was the Penguins losing to the Sabres. More on the playoff picture later.
Here is a video recap of the game: