Barclay Goodrow leads Rangers to 4-3 shootout win over Tampa

Happy New Year!  It was certainly a happier one when the Rangers escaped from Tampa with two points, winning in a shootout over the best team in the league.  It wasn’t a perfect effort by the Blueshirts and they blew another third period lead, but they did enough to win.  They ended 2021 with a victory and have a record of 20-8-4, good for third place in the Metropolitan Division and their 44 points is the tied for fourth most in the NHL.

It was a wild game.  The Rangers came out flat and could muster only three shots on goal in the first period, despite having a power play.  They played much better in the last two periods and were the beneficiaries of two god awful plays by Tampa goalie Brian Elliott who coughed up the puck twice leading to two Ranger goals.

Tied after two periods, the Rangers took the lead only to give it up when Corey Perry scored with the goalie pulled and 1:57 left to play.  A scoreless overtime led to the shootout and Mika Zibanejad was the only scorer in the skills competition and the Rangers took two points to the bank.

It was Barclay Goodrow night in his return to the city he played in and the team he won two Stanley Cups with.  He scored a shorthanded goal and the third period go-ahead goal, reminding Tampa fans of what a salary cap can do to a team.

Goodrow had gotten his Stanley Cup ring before the game and received a video tribute in the first period.

Clearly touched, he did what he does best, come up big in a clutch moment.  After the game Goodrow was grateful for the reception. “It’s something beyond my wildest dreams.  Growing up as a kid, you dream of making it to the NHL, I couldn’t  have dreamed of this. To score a couple goals and get the win topped it all off. ”

Gallant called it “the perfect ending to the story.”

This was only the fourth win over a team in the playoff picture, something that the Rangers need to start doing with regularity if they want to be accepted as a true playoff contender.   It’s something the players are well aware of and have been talking about.

Goodrow explained that it was something the team discussed after the Florida game.  Goodrow said “If we want to be in the conversation with the top teams in the league, the upper echelon, we need to start beating those teams.  We’ve fared pretty well against teams out of a playoff spot, but against teams above us we haven’t fared so well.  We wanted to come out strong tonight….we held on, we got through it and found a way to win in the shootout.”

Gallant acknowledged the importance of beating the top teams.   He said  “We played solid, we played well against a good team and got two points for us…beating some of the those teams, that’s important for us.  Gives us confidence, knowing we can play with the big guys.  Points-wise we ‘re right with them, but we still gotta play better,get a 60 minute game, get better every day, that’s all we can do.”

They can improve their 4-8-2 record against playoff teams if they can build on this win.  Their next four games are all against playoff teams, two at home and two the road.

About the game

The Rangers could muster no offense in the first period, though Gallant said that they didn’t play badly, that it was more of a defensive effort.  It was a scoreless game until Ryan Reaves took an unnecessary roughing penalty against Corey Perry and Steven Stamkos scored six seconds later.  For anyone who remembered the 9-3 shellacking the Blueshirts took at the hands of the Lightning in their last meeting, it brought back the memory of Alex Killorn who scored five seconds into a power play.

The Rangers came out in the second period and actually had some sustained offense. Just over five minutes into the period, Brian Elliott decided to play Santa Claus and he gifted the Rangers two straight goals.  Elliott held the puck for much too long and when pressured by Julien Gauthier, he passed it right to Alexis Lafrenière who had an open net and tied the game.

Exactly nine minute later, when killing a bogus interference penalty to Kaapo Kakko, Elliott gave the puck to Greg McKegg who passed to a streaking Barclay Goodrow who put a backhand under the Tampa goalie.

It was the second shorthanded goal of the season for the Rangers.

Tampa tied the score when an open Ross Colton sent a slapshot by Shesterkin’s glove hand.  While it was a wicked shot, that was a shot the Shesterkin could have stopped.

The third period was more like the first with both teams playing conservatively.  With six and a half minutes left, K’Andre Miller carried the puck into the Tampa zone, passed to Panarin who gave it back to him for a shot.  His point shot was deflected by Goodrow and the Rangers had a 3-2 lead.

The Lightning pulled Elliott with over two minutes left and sure enough, they scored the equalizer with Corey Perry putting in a rebound from the crease.  It was deflating for the Rangers, but they had a chance to win when Victor Hedman put the puck into the stands taking a penalty.

As badly as Elliott played in the second period, he excelled in the third. He was helped by the posts, but made one save on that power play that was absolutely spectacular and completely accidental. Artemi Panarin took the shot and it was ticketed for the upper left corner, but it ticked off the knob of Elliott’s stick and missed the net.

The overtime ended scoreless with the Rangers taking the only two shots and in the shootout it was Igor Shesterkin who stopped all three Lightning shooters while Mika Zibanejad scored on the Rangers third try.

Here’s a video recap of the game.

The Rangers ended up winning a game that they should have won. The Lighting escaped with one point, a habit for them as they have gone to extra time 13 times this season. Athough they were missing their top goalie with Andrei Vasilevskiy still out on the COVID list, they had almost all of their regular skaters in the lineup.  Sure, Nikita Kucherov is on Injured Reserve, but it seems like that’s where he spends the regular season, for cap purposes

This was a solid win against a very, very good team.  Sure, they blew a third period lead for the seventh time this season, but they got  the two points and that’s what matters.