Another comeback, another win, 7-3 over Arizona

Divide this game in half and we would be relating two completely different stories.  The Rangers were completely outplayed for the first 29 minutes, falling behind 3-1.  They then woke up and scored six straight goals and whipped the hapless Arizona Coyotes 7-3.  The record books will reflect a one-sided contest with the Rangers scoring the most goals in a game this season.  But watching, it was completely different.

Coach Gerard Gallant had an apt description when he said “It was tough to watch the first period for sure.”

Excuses were rampant after the first period.  The team had a tough commute back from North Carolina and they didn’t get home until after 3am and were sleep deprived. It certainly looked that way as they sleep walked through the first period and a half.

Jacob Trouba alluded to the commute. “It took a little bit to get our legs and our momentum going…we like our game, we stuck with it. We know we have a team that’s capable of turning it on and off.  It was a unique 48 hours for us.”

Gallant gave full credit to Trouba for turning the game around.  Gallant called the shorthanded goal Trouba created the “momentum changer.”  He said Trouba is “outstanding.  Shooting the puck the way he does…the way he defends and plays an all around game…That’s why he’s the leader and the character of our group..He sets the tone and wakes us up sometimes…he’s been around here a while and guys really respect him.”

As they have in their last three victories, they came back from a deficit to win and in this game they didn’t just come back, they roared back.

Chris Kreider’s hat trick capped a terrific outing and he is tied for the lead in goal scoring in the NHL.   Trouba talked about Kreider. “He comes to the rink every day with the same mentality….a lot of players, including myself, search for a while to find your identity in your game..find what you’re good at and how you can be consistent.  He’s found what he’s good at and he knows what he’s doing out there and he’s confident doing it and he’s a huge part of our team.”

Gallant lauded his work. “Kreids is a complete player.  He’s doing a great job killing penalties for us this year and he plays the game the right way.”

Was this a troubling win?  Absolutely.  While it is encouraging that they were able to come back and win, they are displaying a nasty habit of falling behind early.  Their ability to bounce back from adversity has been a team trademark, but they need to figure out how to be ready when the puck is dropped.  That’s the lesson that they needed to learn from the Carolina game.  Obviously they didn’t.

About the game

How bad was the start?  The Rangers were outshot in the first period 16-4.  They won only four of 19 faceoffs.  The Coyotes had almost twice the shot attempts (28-15)  and had almost triple the scoring chances (15-6).  It was probably as bad a period the Rangers have played this season.

The Coyotes took the early lead on a goal by Liam O’Brien just 2:29 into the game. He was all alone in front of the net for the rebound as the the Rangers were guilty of standing around in their zone.  The Rangers answered right back when Jacob Trouba scored 45 seconds later off a faceoff win.

After that it was all Coyotes as they outshot the Rangers 13-3 and took the two goal lead at the 6:56 mark when Andrew Ladd scored again on breakdowns in the defensive zone. The duo of Patrick Nemeth and Braden Schneider were victimized on both goals, no help from their teammates.   The Rangers were lucky to escape the first period down only 2-1.

It went from bad to worse in the second period.  The Rangers could muster no offense and nine minutes into the second period they had only two more shots,  while the Coyotes had four shots and Clayton Keller scored seven minutes into the period.  The Garden was dead and the fans were as listless as the team they were watching.

The Keller goal absolutely infuriated Jacob Trouba who cleared the puck,but it hit the linesman and bounced right to Travis Boyd who got the puck to Keller who barely beat Igor Shesterkin.  When Ryan Strome took a slashing penalty, that was when Trouba took over.  He carried the puck into the Arizona zone, got it to Mika Zibanejad who passed to Trouba who fed Chris Kreider who was in front of the net for the shorthanded goal.

That jump started the Rangers and they just took over. Four minutes later, Julien Gauthier scored to tie the game on good work by Dryden Hunt and Kevin Rooney.

The play was started by Igor Shesterkin who skated the puck past the faceoff dot and headmanned the puck to a streaking Gauthier.

That started the onslaught. One minute later Artemi Panarin scored on the power play to give the Rangers the lead.

Less than two minutes after that, Kreider scored his second goal on a broken play as Zibanejad’s pass to Panarin was deflected right to Kreider who put it in the open side.

Jacob Trouba added his second goal just 1:33 into the third period on a wicked slapshot from the point.

With a 6-3 lead all that was left was another Kreider goal, this time on the power play midway through the third period. It gave Kreider the hat trick as he scored three different ways.

Here’s a video recap of the game.

The Rangers were guilty of another bad start and they were lucky that the opposition was the Arizona Coyotes.  Arizona played like one of the worst teams in the league and the Rangers took advantage.  It was a great win, but they need to remember that first 29 minutes for their next game.

My 3 Rangers stars

1. Jacob Trouba gets the first star for being the force that turned this game around.  It’s tough to not give a hat trick scorer the first star, but it was Trouba who carried the puck into the offensive zone on the shorthanded goal, making the great pass to Kreider. He scored an immediate response goal after Arizona took the lead and then he added his second goal at the start of the third period to seal the win. He led the team with eight shots on goal and all defensemen with three hits. He also led all players in ice time with 24:22 TOI.  As Gallant said, Trouba “wakes us up.”
2. Chris Kreider gets the second star for his hat trick with the crucial shorthanded goal the turning point of the game.  His second and third goals were insurance, but this was yet another example of how Kreider has turned his career around. The fact that he is tied with Ovechin for the league lead in goal at the halfway point may be the single most surprising statistic in the NHL this season.
3. Artemi Panarin notched his team leading fourth game winning goal when he actually took the shot on the power play.  It was Panarin’s best game since his bout with COVID.  With 43 points in 37 games that would be a 95 point pace over 82 games.

The official 3 stars

1. Chris Kreider
2. Jacob Trouba
3. Artemi Panarin

What’s next

The Rangers should still be smarting from the 3-1 loss they were dealt in their trip to Los Angeles less than two weeks ago.  Overwhelmed by the Kings speedy transition game, they have a chance for revenge on Monday at the Garden.  The Kings have dropped three in a row as they head to Newark to play the Devils on Sunday.  They are in a dogfight for a playoff position.

The play the Blue Jackets in Columbus on Thursday, then it is Henrik Lundqvist night on Friday versus the Minnesota Wild.