How about them Rangers?! What a night at the Garden as the Rangers pull off a come from behind win after Toronto scored three goals in the first period. The game did not get off to a start in the Rangers favor as Ilya Mikheyev got Toronto on the board within the first couple minutes of the game. Kreider would then get called for tripping which resulted in Mitch Marner's first power play goal in almost two years. Just twenty seconds after Toronto made it 2-0, Ryan Reaves got called for tripping to give Toronto another power play that the Rangers would thankfully kill off.
Just over the halfway mark of the period, the Rangers fourth line, who would be the teams best line throughout this outing, went to work. Greg McKegg was hungry on the puck and fed a perfect back hand pass to Ryan Reaves in the slot who got the puck to his forehand to let one go resulting in his first goal as a New York Ranger. A moment fans have eagerly been awaiting all season and it showed as the Garden erupted with cheers after the goal. With a little over two minutes to go in the period, Michael Bunting got his stick on a rebound to give Toronto a 3-1 lead to head into the second.
A tough start for the Rangers but lucky for them, the Leafs aren't the best when it comes to preserving a lead. The blueshirts picked up the intensity in the second period and the fourth line went to work again. Ryan Reaves roofed a rebound past Jack Campbell off a K'Andre Miller shot for his second of the night, bringing his team within one. A pretty special moment for Reaves, who turns 35 today in what became his second two goal night for his 50th goal of his career. His first multi goal night since his days with the St. Louis Blues back in 2013.
Just one second off from the time stamp into the period that Bunting scored in the third, Adam Fox tied it up for the Rangers off a crispy passing play from Bread and Butter. From the half hall to the corner to Fox at the back door, just a perfect sequence. Strome would just be warming up as he would find what became the game winning goal on his stick halfway through the third. Another play that started with Panarin, he fed Ryan Lindgren at the point whose shot took a redirect and ended up on Strome's stick with a wide open net in front of him.
About five minutes later with five to go, Chris Kreider buried a rebound off a Jacob Trouba shot for his 25th of the season, tying him with Auston Matthews for third in the league in goals to give his team an insurance goal. Auston Matthews would almost leap frog Kreider just a couple minutes later, however the goal was waved off as it was a distinct kicking motion that resulted in the puck going in. Adam Fox sealed the deal with his first multi goal night of his career with an empty netter from the complete other end of the ice, his seventh goal of the season, 42 point on the year. The buzzer would sound as they were on their feet at the Garden, a great night for time team that just does not quit.
Obviously not a perfect night as the game got off to a pretty rough start but this team continues to prove they can compete, finding ways to win relentlessly. While there are certainly still concerns and areas of improvement, you have to be happy with how this team is performing on a nightly basis. It's also important to realize this is a deep team that gets contributions from everyone. Greg McKegg, Ryan Reaves and Kevin Rooney had a great night, hands down a huge reason why the Rangers were able to climb back into this one. On top of that, Patrik Nemeth had one of his better outings, Braden Schneider is looking great, things are looking really good for this Rangers team who are 17-3 against Eastern conference teams.
The Rangers will hope to carry that energy into Raleigh Friday night as they have a huge matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes. who are neck and neck with the Rangers in the standings. The Hurricanes, have the advantage with four games in hand as they are currently two points behind the Rangers for first in the Metro. This game will also be quite the reunion for the two teams as Jesper Fast, Brady Skjei, Derek Stepan, Brendan Smith, Tony DeAngelo and Antti Raanta are all former Rangers now residing in Carolina.
Chris Feldman
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