The point that got away as Rangers lose in overtime 3-2

The New York Rangers blew a 2-0 third period lead and lost in overtime to the Vancouver Canucks.  Once more, the Blueshirt were lucky to escape with a point, mostly due to the penalty kill and the play of their goalie.

The Rangers did a lot of things right in this game.  They played a tight defensive game that led to a scoreless first period.  They scored two power play goals, the first two goals not scored by Chris Kreider.  They killed six Vancouver power plays include three in a row in the second period.  They went into the third period with a lead for only the second time this season.

What they did wrong  was they couldn’t handle the push at the start of the third period that you knew was coming from Vancouver, allowing them to score two goals in the first 5:19.   Then, they couldn’t convert on late  back-to-back power plays including 35 seconds with a two-man advantage. At even strength, they couldn’t solve Thatcher Demko who was as fabulous in the Canucks’ net as Igor Shesterkin was at the other end.

After a scoreless first period, despite being shorthanded most of the second, the Rangers potted the first two goals.  Mika Zibanejad scored off a fabulous pass from Panarin off another great feed from Adam Fox.

The second power play goal was a Panarin blast from the blueline after a Strome faceoff win.

Play in the overtime was as expected as the two teams exchanged possession and chances.  When K’Andre Miller jumped into the play, he was taken out of the play and J.T. Miller had a breakaway.

Shesterkin stopped the shot, but couldn’t control the rebound and Miller was a able to score on a wraparound.

Gerard Gallant was pragmatic after the game. “It was a good game. Tough to lose in the OT like that, They made a great play.  We had a great scoring chance before that.  We battled hard.”

He didn’t question K’Andre Miller jumping into the offense in overtime, a decision that led to the Miller break and was Gallant even forgiving about the blown lead.   “We gotta keep our foot on the gas a little bit. They score early..that was a tough one to give up early…it was one of those games up for grabs.  Obviously we would have loved the two points, but we got a big point out of it.”

Here’s a five minute video recap of the game if you couldn’t stay up till the wee hours.

In postgame interviews, Mika Zibanejad and Ryan Strome both shrugged off the loss.  The feeling was definitely that they were glad to get the point.