A third period comeback & a shootout win over the Kings

About the game

The scary part was that the Rangers had another slow start. Until a late power play, the Rangers were outshot 12-1 as they had trouble coping with the Kings transition game.  It took a Brendan Lemieux boarding penalty to give the Rangers some momentum and it led to a power play goal by the NHL’s leading scorer, Chris Kreider.

Lemieux single handedly turned the momentum of the game around, driving Ryan Lindgren into the boards with a dirty check.  Lemieux was give a five minute major and a game misconduct though Lindgren got two minutes for cross checking Lemieux in retaliation.

The Kreider goal came with just two seconds left in the period as Artemi Panarin fed Adam Fox who carried the puck into the zone and made a perfect pass to Kreider, perched in front of Quick.

They started the second period on the power play, but they couldn’t score and the Rangers had the better of the play. Of course, the Kings tied the game on a turnaround in the offensive zone when Ryan Strome made a drop pass that was intercepted.  Blake Lizotte had the break-in and put the puck past Shesterkin.

Jonathan Quick made some spectacular saves to keep the score tied, but there was a turning point late in the second  period when Artemi Panarin rang one off the crossbar.

It looked like he had scored and he thought it had gone in, but it just missed and to make things worse, Barclay Goodrow was called for a double minor for high sticking when he accidentally got his stick up on Adrian Kempe and drew blood.  With only 39 second left in the period, Alex Iafallo scored to put the Kings up 2-1.

It was time for another miracle third period.  This game it was Barclay Goodrow with the deflection with only 5:45 left.  It came at the end of a tremendous shift in the offensive zone and it was Artemi Panarin who took the shot with Goodrow planted in front.

The Rangers had a chance to win when Kempe tripped Mika Zibanejad with 1:14 left in the game, but the Rangers couldn’t score despite some great chances.

The overtime started with the Blueshirts on the power play and the entire five minute OT was played four on four as there were no whistles.

The game went down to a shootout and it was epic, going six rounds.  Both goalies were superb stopping the first four shots.  Anze Kopitar scored and Panarin made the must goal to tie.  On the Kings fifth try it was rookie Quinton Byfield and he put one over Shesterkin’s shoulder.  That left it up to Alexis Lafrenière, in a duel of the top two 2020 draft picks.

The Ranger scored to keep the shootout going and after Shesterkin stopped Arthur Kaliyev, it was Adam Fox’s first time on the shootout and he put a backhand past Quick for the win.

Here’s a video recap of the game.

The Rangers continue to confound the rest of the hockey world with their winning ways.  It was another game in which New York lost the 5v5 battle and were saved by their special teams and their goaltender.  It’s a recipe that continues to work for them, the proof is in their record.

Adam Fox reinforced that after the game, saying, “I think we have confidence in each other and know what team we are and what team we can be and the ultimate goal for us.  We’re going to come in and keep winning games and eventually people will start not questioning every time we beat a team or win a game, but  we just come in and try to take care of business snd not let those outside factors really affect how we’re going to play.”

Notes on the Game

The Rangers record is now 28-11-4 for 60 points.  They improved their home record to 13-3-2.  The Rangers have played 43 games with only the Anaheim Ducks having played more games.

Gallant said that Fox prefers not to participate in the shootout. Early in the year Fox had said that he wasn’t comfortable. Gallant said, “After tonight’s goal he’s going to get  lot of confidence from it, he’s got skill, he’s got talent. He made an incredible move.”

After the game Fox said that it was his first shootout since his junior hockey days.

Chris Kreider took over the league lead in goals with his 30th, one more than Alex Ovechkin who was shut out by Vegas.  He moved two up on Leon Draisaitl for the league lead in power play goals with his 15th.

It took Kreider nine seasons to finally hit the 30 goal milestone.  He’s on a pace to score 57 goals, a number that would set a franchise record.

Mika Zibanejad had his eight game scoring streak stopped.

Adam Fox added an assist and now is three assists behind NHL leader Jonathan Huberdeau.  He opened a two point lead with 46 over Victor Hedman as the leading scoring defenseman.

Artemi Panarin had two assists and continues to move up the scoring chart into 11th place overall with 45 points in 38 games.

The Rangers power play was one for five, but they were dominant with 18 shots.

The penalty kill was absolutely outstanding despite giving up the one goal. They held the Kings to eight shots on the power play with only two high danger chances.

Brendan Lemieux continues to play moronic hockey. That was his sixth five minute major of the season and his first game misconduct.  He has one match penalty and was suspended five games for biting Brady Tkachuk of the Senators. He is sixth in the NHL in penalty minutes.

Filip Chytil missed the game with a lower body injury while Kaapo Kakko is on injured reserve, meaning we may not see him until after the All-Star break.   No word on the nature of the injury except it is an upper body.

With the injuries, Julien Gauthier ended up playing right wing with Zibanejad and Kreider and they weren’t great.  In terms of 5v5 possession, the best line by far was Strome, Panarin and Goodrow.

Ryan Reaves wasn’t very visible, playing only 7:49, the fewest minutes of any Ranger.

Igor Shesterkin made 34 saves, giving up only one even strength goal.

He has won both of his shootouts this season, evening his career record at 2-2.   He improved his save percentage to an NHL best .937 and dropped his goals against average to 2.07, second best in the league. In 25 starts, he has lost only four times in regulation with a 20-4-2 record.

Congratulations to former Ranger Keith Yandle who played in his 964th straight game, tying the iron man record held by Doug Jarvis.  Yandle played 103 of those games in a Rangers uniform from 2014-16.

My 3 Rangers stars

1. Adam Fox gets the number one star for many reasons.  Here they are.  1) He played over 30 minutes for only the second time this season. 2) He won the shootout on a beautiful backhand shot in his first shootout in about eight years. 3) His pass to Chris Kreider for the Rangers first goal was simply spectacular as he made it with only two seconds left in the period. 4)  The Rangers power play was simply dominant and he was on the ice for 7:36 of the nine minutes of PP time. It was another outstanding performance in a season full of them.
2. Artemi Panarin was the most dynamic Ranger forward and at times it looked like he was going to will the Rangers to win this game.  He had 10 shot attempts with five of them on net.  He assisted on Kreider’s power play goal and it was his shot that Goodrow tipped to tie the game.  He almost gave the Rangers the lead on a spectacular shot that rang off the crossbar.  He never stopped skating and was a threat whenever he was on the ice.
3. Igor Shesterkin was excellent in net once again, improving on his top of the NHL statistics.  The allowed only one even strength goal and won the shootout.  He continues to build his case for a Vezina Trophy.

The official 3 stars

1. Igor Shesterkin – Rangers
2. Artemi Panarin – Rangers
3. Jonathan Quick – Kings

What’s next

The Rangers don’t play again until Thursday night when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets.  It’s a quick turnaround after that as they return to New York to play Mats Zuccarello and the red hot Minnesota Wild.  It will be Henrik Lundqvist night, guaranteed to be an emotional night for all involved.