The most exciting win of the season? It just very well may have been as the Rangers came back from a 1-0 deficit with LESS THAN ONE SECOND left in the game, to win it in overtime. For a Thursday Night in January, you would’ve thought this was a Friday Night in April the way the Garden erupted in that final second of regulation. By no means was this a perfect game but as this team has time and time again, persevered and truly exemplified that there is No Quit In New York.
If we’re being honest, it was a bit of a tough game to get into from the start. The first period was a bit on the boring side as there was very minimal action. Less than ten shots from either side, no penalties, not many quality chances. There just seemed to be a bit of a spark missing from this one. As the game went on however, the chances picked up and it began to feel more like a playoff game. Low scoring, two good teams going at it but there was never a real consistent pace as far as energy went in this one. There was a bit of a scary stretch in the final minutes of the first where for a second, it looked like the Rangers could be short a whole forward line. Julien Gauthier, who was already banged up in the last game, collided hard with Sammy Blais, leaving both of them on the ice requiring attention from medical trainer Jim Ramsey. As if that wasn’t bad enough, in the very next shift, Jimmy Vesey blocked a hard shot with his hand that sent him off, winced over in discomfort.
Thankfully, Vesey and eventually Blais would return to the game but Julien Gauthier would be ruled out for the remainder of this one. Over the course of the last two games, Julien Gauthier hasn’t seen more than a couple minutes of ice time in each and after hearing that Gallant plans to see what they have in Jake Leschyshyn, I wouldn’t be surprised if he or potentially him and Blais get the night off on Sunday. Depending on Gauthier and Kreider’s status, we could very well see the Rangers make a call up in the coming days, if for any reason just to have an extra forward for the back to back stretch coming up. Regardless, the Rangers were lucky to only lose one of those three players as that could have drastically changed the remaining duration of the game.
In the second period, penalties picked up and eventually one team got on the board as Tyler Seguin found the back of the net on the Stars’ lone power play opportunity with just over two minutes to go in the period. The Rangers had every chance in the world to get involved in this one throughout the second period. With three different power play opportunities, they just could not find a way to convert on any of them and Jake Oettinger wasn’t giving them much room to finish. Sure enough, after six minutes of having the man advantage in a ten minute span, the Stars finally got a call in their favor and were able to capitalize less than a minute into the power play. With not much time left in the period, the Rangers headed to the third down one in a fairly even game overall.
The Rangers would continue just barely out-shooting the Stars in the third but about halfway through, would get one last lay-up. Jake Oettinger took a shot off the helmet which ended up breaking one of his straps. In frustration with the officials not noticing, Oettinger ripped his helmet off to force a stoppage in play. According to the rule-book, that’s a delay of game penalty therefore, the Rangers got their fourth power play opportunity of the night. Now as a former goalie, I can understand Oettinger’s frustration in that moment and with the call. The last thing you want happening in the middle of play is your helmet falling off and even if it hasn’t, the distraction of knowing you’re sort of at risk there is enough to throw your entire concentration off. I’m not here to suggest whether or not that should be a penalty but I definitely see both sides of the debate.
Nevertheless, the Rangers headed to the power play but again, were unable to convert. As time continued to run out, the Rangers continued upping the pressure and per usual, Gallant played jump rope with the line combinations a bit. Honestly, in this situation, I didn’t hate how he managed his lines. He put the kid line back together and threw Zibanejad in between Goodrow and Vesey. Aside from the fact that the latter of the three were out there when they pulled Shesterkin, it was the right move. Thankfully, the Rangers got a whistle and were able to get their top guys out there in the final minute and set up a final play. As the seconds wore down, the Rangers urgency levels skyrocketed. With literally SECONDS left, K’Andre Miller let a slap shot go from the point that got blocked by a Stars player. Key picked up his own rebound, and threw a quick last chance shot to the net that managed to sneak past Oettinger with .03 seconds on the clock.
And as Sam Rosen says best, “And they’re on their feet at the Garden!”
To overtime we go, with the loudest anyone has likely heard the Garden in a regular season game. To some surprise, Gallant started the three on three overtime with Chytil, Lafreniere and Schneider. Let the kids cook right? They won the face-off and got some looks but after a line change, it was the top guns coming out. Artemi Panarin was first to have the chance to end it, then Mika Zibanejad had the opportunity to put the loose puck away in front and FINALLY in a crazy sequence, Adam Fox pulled off an Adam Fox move and put home a backhander to give the Rangers an immaculate come from behind win to get their second and final win on the regular season against the Stars.
An absolutely incredible showing from this Rangers bunch. Time and time again they show this No Quit attitude and that’s what is going to get them back into the kind of playoff run they found themselves in last year. You can tell just from watching the game on TV that the vibes at the Garden were next level and with that in mind, you have to hope that this game will be one of those factors in the Rangers taking this season to the next level. They’ve been playing great hockey since early December, with only two regulation losses and two extra points in almost twenty games. Without a doubt this will be a game fans and the team alike will always remember but you have to hope, this is just the start of many more of those games to come.
Chris Feldman
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