Despite the New York Rangers never trailing after Adam Fox put them ahead 3:20 into the game, the Rangers still found a way to blow it. A 5-4 overtime thriller featuring a goal from Anaheim's Mason McTavish stunned the Rangers during their game against the Ducks in the Blueshirts' West Coast trip.
“We’re in charge of a game going into the third period, twice, and we don’t execute and get it done,” Head Coach Peter Laviolette said during his postgame press conference that lasted all of about 45 seconds. “That’s about as disappointing as it gets.”
J.T. Miller, Alexis Lafrenière and Adam Fox had a goal and an assist apiece for New York, which has lost five of the last six matchups. Let's breakdown exactly how the Rangers got their latest loss with three key takeaways from the matchup.
1. A Power Play Failure
Mika Zibanejad’s power-play goal early in the third period put the Rangers ahead 4-2 and appeared to put the game away. However, the Blueshirts wasted four more man advantages, including a long 5-on-3, and the PP’s failure to capitalize on a string of bad penalties by the Ducks came back to bite the Rangers in the butt.
By the end of the contest, the Rangers' power play was 1-for-7
2. Two-Pointers
Miller, Lafreniere, Fox and Artemi Panarin - famously known as "The Breadman" — each had two points against Anaheim. As previously mentioned, Miller, Lafrenière and Fox had a goal and an assist apiece for New York while Pararin had two assists.
3. Another OT Failure
The Rangers have lost seven of their nine games decided in 3-on-3 overtime. In six of those seven, they gave up the lead in the third but allowed the game-tying goal before coughing up the winner in OT. The loss Friday was the second occurrence this month that the Rangers lost in OT after they couldn’t hold a two-goal lead in the last few minutes of regulation.
Meaning, on the 2024-25 season they have lost six points due to failures in extra time.
Up Next
The Rangers have an extremely busy West Coast trip. In back-to-back fashion, they take on the San Jose Sharks Saturday evening. Pucl drop is slated for 10:30 p.m. EST.