Perreault nets first career goal as Rangers grind out OT win in St. Louis

The Rangers visited the Enterprise Center in downtown St. Louis on Thursday night still reeling from an embarrassing shutout loss on home ice to the Vancouver Canucks. And to add insult to injury, they entered this rebound game against a very banged‑up Blues team—playing on the second half of a back‑to‑back—without Artemi Panarin, who became a late scratch for the Rangers due to illness.

Mike Sullivan announced the day before that young prospects Brennan Othmann and Gabe Perreault would be called up from the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack to give the lineup a much‑needed jolt of energy and, hopefully, some bottom‑six offense.

Both have been playing well in Hartford recently, especially Perreault. The 20‑year‑old forward has put together a productive season with the Wolf Pack, recording 10 goals, seven assists, and 17 points in 20 games

This was a tightly contested game throughout, with both the Rangers and Blues battling for every inch. St. Louis struck first in the opening period on a goal from Jonatan Berggren, who was playing just his second game as a Blue after being claimed off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings.

The Rangers answered on a second‑period power play with a deflection from none other than the newly recalled Gabe Perreault. His first NHL goal came off a puck that redirected off his skate on a feed from Will Cuylle and Noah Laba, both of whom continued their clutch play for New York.
At age 20, Perreault became the youngest Rangers player to score his first NHL goal on the power play since… Christian Dubé. (Remember him?)

The score remained tied 1–1 after two periods. The Rangers withstood a heavy dose of offensive‑zone pressure from the Blues, though St. Louis never generated many high‑danger chances. Regulation solved nothing, sending the game to overtime—a situation in which the Blues had yet to earn a win this season.

Both teams played the usual puck‑possession chess match during the 3‑on‑3 session, weaving in and out of their zones, waiting for a mistake. Then Vincent Trocheck streaked into the Blues’ end, stopped up along the boards, and fired a crisp pass to captain J.T. Miller, who ripped a blistering wrist shot for his third overtime winner of the season.

In the end, this game was decided by one of the Rangers’ most seasoned veterans in Miller and their youngest player in Perreault. That’s exactly the kind of balance Mike Sullivan likes to see.