A wild last second 5-4 win over the Sabres

We were told that there would be night like this one.  In a wild game the New York Rangers barely won a game that the should have won easily.  Ryan Lindgren scored with seven tenths of a second left in the game for the win. That came after an insane segment in the second period when the two teams  combined for four goals in 1:22.  This game had a little bit of everything.  Amazing scoring.  Great work on the boards.  Sloppy passes.  Lengthy delayed penalties.  And perhaps most important, a goalie change.

A problem is brewing in goal for the Rangers.  Alexandar Georgiev was simply not good in the first two periods and Igor Shesterkin came out to start the third period.   The Rangers defense was better and he only faced four third period shots and he got the win. Georgiev allowed four goals on 18 shots and according to naturalstattrick.com the Sabres expected goal total was .81 at five on five and they ended up with three.

When asked about the goalie change after the game, Coach Gerard Gallant would only say it was “a coach’s decision.”

Georgiev needs some good games to get his confidence back and the answer may be a stint in Hartford.  He’d have to clear waivers, but considering his record and his pricey $2.425 million contract it’s possible he won’t be claimed.

About the game

It was a slow start for the Rangers and it felt that despite the 6pm start time, the team believed they didn’t need to start playing until their usual 7pm start time.  It was the Rangers team we have seen before with sloppy passing, neutral zone turnovers and too many trips to the penalty box.

The first goal was on the second Buffalo power play after a bad holding penalty by Kaapo Kakko.  The Sabres held the puck for 1:11 before a whistle,but couldn’t get a shot on goal.  On the power play it was Rasmus Aplund who scored.  Georgiev made the save on a point shot by Kyle Okposo, but kicked the rebound into the slot where Aplund was about to put it home.

The Sabres almost escaped the period with the lead, but it was Chris Kreider who got the Rangers on the board, also on the power play.   With only 48 seconds left in the period, Jacob Bryson was called for interference, but it took just 25 seconds for Artemi Panarin to find an open Kreider in the slot who didn’t hesitate on the shot.

The Rangers snuck out with the score tied despite the Sabres with more shot attempts, 21 to the Rangers 16.   The Blueshirts had nine blocks in the period to keep the game close.

The Rangers were totally dominant in the final two periods, outshooting the Sabres 28 to 14 and with 44 shot attempts to the Sabres’ 22.   The second period was a wild one.

Vinnie Hinostroza scored on an awful giveaway by Jarred Tinordi.

The New York defenseman turned into the Sabres forward who stripped him of the puck and went in on a breakaway and he beat Georgiev.

7:08 into the second period,  the game got insane.Here’s a timeline:

7:08  – Buffalo was called on a delayed crosschecking penalty and the Rangers did what the Sabres did in the first period, keeping the puck in the Buffalo zone for 56 seconds only they were able to get five shots on goal in that time with the last one in the net.

8:03  –  Jacob Trouba jammed home a rebound to tie the score.

8:24 – Sabres goalie Aaron Dell robbed Filip Chytil on an odd man rush with a great glove save.

8:59 – The Sabres put a point shot past Georgiev, but the goal was disallowed because Cody Eakin made contact with the Ranger goalie. Eakins actually knocked the stick out of Georgiev’s hand.

So, in less than two minutes we had a delayed penalty, a Rangers goal, a New York breakaway denied and a disallowed Buffalo goal.  But wait, that was nothing compared to what happened three minutes later

12:07 – Kaapo Kakko scored on a great move, cutting to the net.

Fox sprung the puck loose and fed Panarin who got the puck to Kakko for a give and go with Ryan Strome.

12:57 – Tage Thompson drove to the net and put a wicked wrist shot past Georgiev while Jarred Tinordi and Patrik Nemeth didn’t clear the slot.

13:12 –  The Sabres retook the lead when they got the puck deep and fed Rasmus Dahlin at the blue line and he put a shot past Georgiev.  That was definitely a shot that the Ranger goalie should have stopped.

13:29 – Just 17 seconds later, K’Andre Miller tied the score again on a wrist shot from the blue line. Ryan Reaves got the puck to Barclay Goodrow who got the puck to Miller who wristed it past Dell which Reaves causing all kinds of trouble in front of the net.

Four goals scored in 1:22, a head spinning sequence.

Ironically, that was going to be the last scoring until the final minute of the game.  With Igor Shesterkin in net for the Rangers, the Blueshirts had 19 shot attempts to eight for Buffalo and eight high danger chances to none for the Sabres.  Shesterkin had to make only four saves and it looked like were headed to overtime.

As time wound down, the Rangers got the puck deep and Chris Kreider and Barclay Goodrow kept the puck pinned on the boards for over 20 seconds.  With seconds left, both Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren crashed the net and with 1.9 seconds left Kreider got the puck to Fox who fed Mika Zibanejad who passed to an open Lindgren at the goal mouth.  With seven tenths of  second left, the blueliner scored and there was bedlam at the Garden.

So, the Rangers won a game that they should won and they did it in an unconventional manner.  Considering how they have won a lot of games this season, no one should be surprised.

Here’s a video recap of the game.