Rangers Hold Own but Fall Apart in End of Third Period Against League Leader Winnipeg

Well, it could have been worse.

Against their toughest opponent of the season so far, the New York Rangers really held their own against Winnipeg up until the third period. Entering Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, the Blueshirts were 9-3-1 compared to the then-NHL leading Jets (14-1-0). And the Rangers almost won it at certain points, with it being 4-3 in the third period before the Jets secured the game with a final score of 6-3.

Returning to the starting lineup for the Rangers was goaltender Igor Shesterkin. Backup Jonathan Quick got the nod over him when the Rangers finalized their season series sweep over fellow-Original Six foe — the Detroit Red Wings.

Quick's 4-0 shutout and start was likely due to Shesterkin's performance against the Buffalo Sabres. He gave up five goals before getting pulled in the second period.

But, it appears Shesterkin was back in the net with at least some of his old mojo back.

The 28-year-old allowed five goals against 32 shots faced, effectively boasting a .844 save percentage with his 27 saves.

After puck drop, it was ones all around after the end of the first period. The Jets struck first at just 57 seconds into the contest with a goal from veteran Mark Scheifele.

But, the Rangers answered back before the end of the period with a rebound goal from Will Cuylle — assisted by Filip Chytil and Braden Schneider.

Also worth mentioning that as the second period went underway, Mika Zibanejad was hunched over and skating off the ice with the trainer. He went to the locker room but made his return to the bench and eventually the ice.

Following this, Gabriel Vilardi got behind K'Andre Milller and scored on the power play. He was assisted by teammates Neal Pionk and Nikolaj Ehlers.

Clearly, this matchup was back and forth.

Just four minutes after Vilardi's goal, former No. 1 pick Alexis Lafrenière jumped on with PP1 to score from the top of the zone, making it 2-2.

Also four minutes later, Zibanejad was back in play. He coughed up a puck in the O-zone, which Winnipeg then quickly turned into an odd-man rush going the other way. One of two Jets' leading scorers Kyle Connor was on the finishing end, giving the Jets a 3-2 lead going into the third period.

Editor's Note: There were three goals for the Jets that were scored off turnovers by Mika Zibanejad.

Things got dangerous for the Rangers in the third, and ultimately is was then that the Jets were able to put the game away.

Scheifele scored again just over a minute into the third period, but the Blueshirts responded right away.

This time, it was Finland native Kaapo Kakko who fought around the crease to bush a rebound across the line — cutting the deficit to 4-3 with 18:20 left to play.

Vladislav Namestnikov and Nikolaj Ehlers didn't convert on the 2-on-1 rush, but Namestnikov scooped up the puck and shot it in before Shesterkin is able to get back in net.

The night was finalized with long range empty net goal from Connor, making him the best player of the night with three points.

Honestly, it was one of the better performances we’ve seen from Blueshirts lately, but poor puck management and sloppy breakouts were really what killed them on the Tuesday night matchup.

Now, there are those who might say this is a little too much insight for a game taking place as early as Nov. 12. But here's the thing — when you have two teams playing against one another who are both this competitive, every play counts.

Up Next

The Rangers (9-4-1) transition to taking on a team they are easily ahead of rather quickly on Thursday, Nov. 14 when the San Jose Sharks travel to Madison Square Garden. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. EST.