Reaves stars in 6-3 comeback win

About the game

The Maple Leafs came out with purpose and they scored just 2:44 into the game off a turnover by Ryan Lindgren.  He tried to put the puck on the right boards, but it was deflected by Pierre Engvall who got the shot on net, but Ilya Mikheyev was perfectly positioned for the rebound and put it past Igor Shesterkin.

Down 1-0, the Rangers got in trouble 30 seconds later when Chris Kreider took a tripping penalty and it took Toronto all of 13 seconds for Mitch Marner to score his first power play goal in 100 games.  William Nylander made a pass to a wide open Marner who put it into the open net.

It got even worse when Ryan Reaves took a tripping penalty 20 seconds later, but the penalty kill came through and they survived.

The Blueshirts didn’t get their first shot until 6:08 of the period while Toronto had seven shots on goal and numerous shot attempts.

The game started to turn late in the first as the Rangers had some decent offensive zone time. It led to the best shift by a New York forward line by the fourth line and that resulted in Ryan Reaves first goal as a Ranger on a fantastic pass by Greg McKegg.

Adam Fox pinched to get the puck to McKegg.

The one goal game didn’t last long as Michael Bunting scored a goal that restored the two goal lead. It came off a rush led by Auston Matthews who fired the shot at the net.  Shesterkin made the save, but it bounced right to Bunting and it deflected off his knee and into the net.  3-1 Toronto.  It was a pretty bleak period for the Rangers as they were outshot, outchanced and lost 15 of 20 faceoffs.

It was Reaves turn to be the hero again as he scored to pull the Rangers within a goal just three minutes into the second period. K’Andre Miller’s shot from the point bounced off the end boards right to Reaves who put it over Jack Campbell’s shoulder.

The Rangers turned the game around and played even with Toronto, though they had to kill a too many men on the penalty.  With 2:11 left in the period it was Adam Fox who tied the game.

Chytil made a nice play keeping the puck in the zone and then it was Panarin to Strome to Fox for the goal.

Strome then might have saved a goal by slashing Michael Bunting who had a wide open net just 40 seconds after the Fox goal.  The penalty killers took over and kept the Leafs from scoring, though John Tavares was credited with four shots in 13 seconds as time wound down on the period.  The final save was off Shesterkin’s helmet and he directed the rebound back over his net.

The third period began with Shesterkin stoning William Nylander on a breakaway.

The teams exchanged chances until Ryan Strome put the Rangers ahead for the first time, 4-3.

Ryan Lindgren’s shot attempt was deflected right to Strome who had an empty net to shoot into.

At that point it was up to the Rangers to hang on and they had a great opportunity to build on the lead when Ilya Mikheyev was called for goalie interference.  The penalty could get nothing going and when the first unit gave up a scoring opportunity, Gallant put the fourth line out on the PP.

With just under four and a half minutes left in the game it was Kreider’s turn to score as Jacob Trouba’s point shot hit Campbell and went right to Kreider who was perched in front of the net.

The Maple Leafs pulled their goalie and there were some tense moments.  With 3:52 left,  Auston Matthews appeared to score, but on video replay it was ruled that he kicked the puck into the net.

It was left to Adam Fox to ice it with an empty net goal.

Here’s a full video recap of the game.

Finding ways to win has become the mantra of this Rangers team and this game was just another example.