A crazy 2-1 win for the 1st place Rangers

Yes, you read the headline right.  The first place Rangers.  When the Penguins beat the Capital tonight, the Rangers moved into sole possession of first place in the Metropolitan Division.  As usual, they didn’t make it easy,  winning by a 2-1 score with the Sabres’ tying goal disallowed on an offside call.

This game was stolen by the goaltender as Alexandar Georgiev made 36 saves and was brilliant in the third period when Buffalo made a huge push to get back into the game.  With just over five minutes left, they were able to get one past Georgiev and it was a roller coaster the rest of the way.

It was the ending of the game that will be what everyone will be talking about. With one minute left and the Buffalo goalie pulled, the Sabres crashed the net and a shot by Victor Olofsson deflected off Patrik Nemeth and over Georgiev and barely into the net.

The goal was reviewed and it was clear the puck crossed the goal line before the goalie batted it out.  Game tied.

Not so fast.  26 seconds earlier the Sabres had carried the puck into the zone and the Situation Room called down saying that Buffalo was offside on the play.

Again, the play was reviewed and it was clear that Rasmus Dahlin was in the zone well before the puck.  No goal.

They Blueshirts hung on for the last 1:26 and were able to steal a win against a team they should have beaten handily.

They would have won handily if they had been able to convert on numerous chances throughout the game.  They missed rebounds and blew a three-on-one and when they did get a shot on goal, Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made some outstanding stops.

The Rangers went ahead on a power play goal by Mika Zibanejad and it was a lucky one. At 4:48 in the first period, Artemi Panarin tried a cross ice pass to a streaking Adam Fox, but it hit Mark Jankowski and bounced right to Zibanejad who took the puck and tucked it in.

Midway through the second period, the game winning goal was scored by Alexis Lafrenière on a rush when he was able to put the rebound of an Adam Fox shot into the open side.

This was a game that the Rangers dominated in the first period with 22 shot attempts to 11 for the Sabres.  The game evened up in the second period, helped by two Ranger penalties.  The third period was all Sabres as they had 29 shot attempts to only nine for New York with 18 of those shots getting through and 12 of them of the high danger variety.

Coach Gerard Gallant said he was concerned about the uneven effort, but that it isn’t a glaring issue. “Honestly, there’s a lot of good teams in our league and I see it from other teams too.  It’s not just us…you look around the league, you have some nights at times.  We had too many of them early but we’ve eliminated a lot of those lately…sometimes it happens.”

He did point out that special teams were solid and Georgiev was “excellent.”

So, in two games versus Buffalo the Rangers won on a last second goal by Ryan Lindgren and on a goal disallowed in the last minute. They play once more this season. What can they do for an encore?

Here is a full video recap of the game:

The Rangers are tied with the Minnesota Wild for the second most points in the NHL with 39 points,behind only Florida with 40.  They are in first place in the Metropolitan Division.  Naysayers will say that when the Rangers barely beat the Sabres it’s a sign of trouble to come.  However, this team consistently finds what it takes to win and then they win.  The numbers don’t lie.

Notes on the game

The Rangers are now 18-5-3 for 39 points in 26 games.  That ties the 1971-72 team for most points after 26 games and it ties the 1993-94 team for most wins in 26 games.

The Rangers are second in the league with 10 road wins behind Calgary and Carolina with 11.  Their 17 regular and overtime wins is second to Toronto and Carolinaa with 18.

Alexandar Georgiev had a wonderful night.  He stole the game in the third period and is a different player than the one who was pulled the last time the Rangers played Buffalo.

When he took over after Igor Shesterkin was injured he had a 2-1-1 record with a .867 save percentage (Sv%) and a 3.89 goals against average (GAA), worst in the league.  Since the third period of the San Jose game, he has a 3-0 record with a 2.22 GAA and .949 Sv%.   His overall numbers are creeping up as he now has a .896 Sv% and a 3.07 GAA.  Let’s not even talk about the two goals that shouldn’t have counted against Chicago.

Mika Zibanejad ended a 14-game scoreless streak with his goal.  He has had 10 assists in those games.

The power play continues to drive the offense, going 1-2.  The Blueshirts have now scored in six straight games, scoring at a 39% clip (7-18).   They are seventh in the league now (24.%). The last time they scored PP goals in six straight games was October 2009.

The penalty kill was perfect, stopping both Sabres power plays.   They have killed 25 of their last 26 penalties and are now sixth best in the NHL with am 83.5% success rate.

Alexis Lafrenière’s goal was his third game winner of the season, tied for the most on the team.  He has seven game winning goals in his first two seasons and three of them have come against the Buffalo Sabres.   He is on a pace to score 19 goals this season, not bad output for a player some say has been a bust of a top pick.

Barclay Goodrow had a very active game, getting into a fight with John Hayden just three minutes into the game. He took Dylan Cozen’s feet out from under him as time wound down and Cozens retaliated with a wicked two handed slash.

Adam Fox had two assists and leads all blueliners with 29 points. With 24 assists, he is second in the NHL to Connor McDavid who has 29 helpers.

With the two assists, Fox reached the 100 assist mark in his career in 151 games, become the sixth fastest to reach that mark.  Sergei Zubov holds the record in only 127 games.<

/li>

Gerard Gallant is really changing how Artemi Panarin is deployed.  Last season he routinely played in excess of 23 or 24 minutes in a game.  Not this season and this game was a perfect example as he played 16:08,  fewer minutes than four other forwards.

The Rangers have won 15 of their last 20 games versus Buffalo with a 15-4-1 record.