A wild last second 5-4 win over the Sabres

Notes on the game

The Rangers improved their record to 11-4-3.  Their 25 points are seventh most in the NHL and is fifth most in the Eastern Conference.

By reaching 25 points in their 18th game, it was the fastest since it took them 17 games in 2016-17.  In fact, they have reached this total faster in only two seasons since the lockout.

The Rangers now have won five games in a row at home, their longest streak since January 2020.

The Rangers have played 13 one-goal games this season and have a record of 9-1-3.  We count games with empty net goals scored as one goal games and their record is pretty outstanding.

It was the first game winning goal of Ryan Lindgren’s career.  He became the fourth defenseman in NHL history to score a go-ahead goal in the final second of regulation.  It is the fourth time that any Ranger has done it and the first since Brad Richards scored with one tenth of  a second left in a game with the Coyotes in 2011.

Three of the five goals were scored by Rangers defensemen. The only time that has happened this season.

For Kaako Kappo, it was his third goal in four games and it gave him a four-game point scoring streak, tying his career high.  The Strome-Panarin-Kakko line is really gelling and they had numerous chances.

Chris Kreider scored his eighth power play goal, second to Leon Draisaitl with nine. It was Kreider’s 13 goal of the season, good for fourth in the NHL.

With three assists, Artemi Panarin has moved into the top ten in scoring in the NHL with 19 points.  His 15 assists are tied for fifth most.  This was the 50th game with three or more points for Panarin, third most in the NHL since he joined the league.

With two assists, Adam Fox moved into the league lead as the top scoring defenseman with 18 points, one more than Roman Jose and Victor Hedman.

Ryan Strome now has a six-game point scoring streak and has points in seven of his last eight games.

Igor Shesterkin gets credit for the win, his ninth of the year, third most in the league. Among goalies who have appeared in ten games or more,  Shesterkin is in the top ten in Goals Against Average (2.31) and Save Percentage (.931).   Incidentally, he also faced 447 shots, third most in the NHL.   If you take the two Calgary games (11 goals) out of the equation, his Save percentage would be a league leading .946 and his Goals Against Average would be 1.77, third best in the NHL.

After the game it looked like Mika Zibanejad and Gerard Gallant were having a heated discussion at the bench while the team celebrated.

Afterwards,  Gallant said that he was trying to calm down Zibanejad who was giving it to the referees for a non call.  In the game’s final minute Zibanejad was upended by Tage Thompson and he felt it should have been a penalty.

The Rangers had 34 hits to 16 by the Sabres.  They were lead by Ryan Reaves with seven hits and Julien Gauthier with five.  Reaves also got his first point of the year, an assist on the K’Andre Miller goal.

In the third period Gallant swapped Dryden Hunt and Barclay Goodrow with Hunt moved up to the first line. Gallant explained that he thought the team was “flat” and he wanted to mixed things up. When asked if it could be permanent, he also said he “like what he saw” and said that Hunt “has been a good player from the get go…I like what he brings, he got some offensive touch and can really shoot a puck so it could be a possibility.”

The four goals in 1:22 for both teams was nowhere near the Rangers’ record.  In 1980, the Rangers and the Rockies scored four goals in 1:01, fourth fastest in NHL history. The NHL record is 49 seconds in a game in 2015 between the Blues and Stars.

This was the third time the Rangers have scored five goals in a game, their season high.  Scoring is picking up with the team scoring 22 goals in their last six games, a 3.67 goals per game pace.  That’s a big improvement over the 2.41 GPG average over their first 12 games.