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.

Notes on the game

The Rangers penalty kill is on fire.  They killed six Canucks power plays and are now  eighth best in the league with an 86.1% efficiency rating. They have allowed only one goal in their last 28 times shorthanded. That’s 96.4%.

The six penalties they took was the most since they took the same number on opening night against the Capitals.  If they do that against Edmonton on Friday, it will be trouble.  The Oilers have an unbelievable success rate of 46.2%.  Yikes.

The Rangers power play was excellent in the second period with Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin both scoring.  The Panarin goal came just four seconds into the penalty after a faceoff win by Ryan Strome.

The power play is showing signs of life with four goals their last 10 times with the man advantage.

The Rangers had a two-man advantage for the second time this season and didn’t score…for the second time this season. This one lasted only 35 second, but you cannot accuse them of not trying to score.  In 54 seconds Artemi Panarin took seven shots with four blocked by Tucker Poolman and two saved by Demko include an amazing skate save when he stopped a shot by lifting his foot while he was prone on the ice.

Demko is a pretty good goalie.  He stopped Filip Chytil on a first period breakway and made the save on Jacob Trouba who had a point blank shot while shorthanded in the second period. He was fabulous late in the third period despite losing his stick and his blocker.

Despite the heroics of the special teams, the Rangers were badly outplayed 5v5.  At even strength, the Canucks had 41 shot attempts to only 25 for New York.  The Rangers blocked 18 shots as 23 shots were on goal compared to 13 for the Rangers.  Even worse was the number of high danger chances at even strength.  The Canucks had 14 high danger shots compared to only three for the Blueshirts.

The Rangers and Canucks both had 24 hits, only the second time this season that the Rangers didn’t outhit the opposition.

The Rangers have now lost four in a row to the Canucks going back to March 2019.

Adam Fox assisted on both of the Rangers goals and now has 11 points, tied for the most in the NHL with Kevin Shattenkirk. He is tied with Victor Hedman for the most assists with nine.

Fox took two minor penalties for the second time in his career.  The last time was February 28, 2020 against the Flyers.

For Fox, he reached the 100 point mark in his 135th career game, the 22nd NHL defenseman to do that and the third after Brian Leetch and Sergei Zubov to do it for the Blueshirts.

Former Rangers first round pick J.T. Miller scored two goals including the game winner. He leads the Canucks with three goals and 11 points. He plays like he has something to prove when opposing the Rangers and now has four goals and seven points in eight games against them.

The Rangers’ fourth line of Kevin Rooney, Greg McKegg and Dryden Hunt had several excellent shifts that kept the Canucks penned in their own end.  It would be nice if they could score an occasional goal.  The trio, combined has scored 45 goals in 455 NHL games.   Rooney has their only goal this season and it was into an empty net.

Shesterkin was excellent, especially in the second period killing all of those penalties.  He stopped 33 of 36 shots, the third time this season he has faced as many as 36 shots.  He is now 4-3 in overtime in his career.

Surprisingly, he has never won in a shootout, losing the two he has participated in.

Shesterkin made a tremendous save on the overtime breakaway by J.T. Miller, but lost sight of the puck and Miller was able to scoop it up and score on the wraparound.  It was unfortunate.