The New York Rangers were looking to rebound from a bad loss on Thursday to the Vegas Golden Knights. They were especially determined to play well defensively after giving up numerous odd man rushes and excellent scoring chances to Vegas. Well, did they ever. The Rangers put on a defensive clinic, beating Anaheim 4-1 and allowing only 14 shots including only three in the third period. They scored three third period goals to win with the goals coming from the unlikeliest of sources, Jarred Tinordi and two by Ryan Lindgren.
The New York Rangers got more bad news just before game time when Ryan Reaves became the fourth Blueshirt to go on the COVID protocol list. As a result, it was Morgan Barron, Tim Gettinger and Jonny Brodzinski in the lineup. While Anaheim has their own COVID issues with six players on the list, it’s no excuse considering who the Rangers were missing.
After the game Gerard Gallant was positively giddy, saying “It was perfect, good to see that from Tinner (Tinordi) and Lindy had a couple too….we played a real good solid all around hockey game. That’s what we need. We got a lot more rubber to the net that we have in the past and I’m happy about that.”
While it was Mika Zibanejad who scored the crucial second period goal to tie the game, the fact is that it was Jarred Tinordi who scored the game winner and Lindgren who added the two third period goals to ice the win. Both Gallant and Ryan Lindgren talked about how the team feels when players like Tinordi come through. Gallant said “They couldn’t be happier on the bench, when guys like that score goals. ”
By holding Anaheim to only 14 shots, it was the fewest shots allowed since they held the Devils to only 13 shots on February 27, 2012 in a 2-0 win. Their previous low had been 21 shots by the Islanders in November. The fewest shots allowed in the post-expansion era was 11 shots to the Calgary Flames in 1981.
Gallant was very pleased with the play of the fourth line of Morgan Barron, Tim Gettinger and Jonny Brodzinski. When asked what he thought of their play, he said “Loved it, they played great. Kept it simple. Forechecked well, they had scoring chances, Gettinger was a big screen on the Lindgren goal.”
All in all, it was an excellent rebound game against a solid team on the road. The Rangers have lost 13 games this season and have lost the next game in regulation only three times.