The resilient Rangers do it again, finding a way to win against a tough to play against Anaheim team. Despite having leads in the first and second period, the Rangers found themselves trailing in the third but a crucial time out by Gerard Gallant rejuvenated the Rangers power play to tie it up forcing this one to overtime. It was an impressive night in a couple areas statistically and most importantly a relief of a win for goaltender Alexandar Georgiev who is desperately seeking a spark in confidence.
I have to say, from his first shift of the game I just knew that Johnny Brodzinski was going to get one tonight. The way he was skating, making passes and forechecking it just looked like he was on another level and it showed on his second shift just four and a half minutes into the game. Brodzinski came down on his forehand and got a great shot off that beat John Gibson blocker side to give the Rangers an early lead. The goal would wake Anaheim up a bit as they began playing a little more lively and ten minutes later, Maxime Comtois would score off a tip-in to tie the game up at one.
Just a couple minutes into the second, the Ducks would get called for a delayed penalty but the Rangers absolutely dominated the play 6-on-5. With Georgiev pulled, Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin set up Mika Zibanejad for that signature one timer that Gibson didn't stand a chance at stopping, 2-1 Rangers. This next play would be my bad, I got excited and kind of jinxed the Rangers who were shorthanded, resulting in a Cam Fowler power play goal. A good opportunity for another painful reminder that the Rangers drafted Dylan McIlrath over him. *sigh*
To the third we go and for the first time in the game, Anaheim took the lead thanks to a Derek Grant breakaway, assist from one time Hartford Wolf Pack forward Dannny O"Regan. Despite Anaheim's positioning in the standings, they're still a good team that doesn't go down without a fight. With plenty of time left in the period, the Rangers went to the power play once again and about halfway through it, weren't able to generate anything just yet. Head Coach Gerard Gallant opted to use his timeout to give his top power play unit a rest.
This time out would be a bit of a game changer as the rested Rangers would end up capitalizing on the back half of the man advantage. Who else but Chris Kreider would bury a bouncing puck on the back side of the net to tie this game up at three. The rest of the period would be scoreless, sending the teams to overtime. After a lengthy opening shift, Artemi Panarin broke the puck out himself and a tired Adam Fox headed for the net along with the Breadman. Panarin did what he does best and found his teammate for a great opportunity to score and despite lacking energy, Adam Fox was able to get the puck to his forehand and put it away,
Last night ended up being quite the stat night for a couple of the Rangers. The game winner was Adam Fox's first overtime goal of his career and became the third Rangers to earn 60 points this season, making them one of only three teams with three or more 60+ point getters. Mika Zibanejad, being another one of those players with 60 points, his second period goal being the one that got him there. Mika is as red hot as anyone with goals in four of his last six games. However, no one may be hotter than Artemi Panrin who has eight points in his last TWO games. Lastly, Chris Kreider who is having a career year, scored his 400th point of his career with his power play goal, 39th on the season. 20th from the power play.
An exciting come from behind win was just what the Rangers needed to kick off this weeks stretch of big games. They'll skate tomorrow before gearing up for their second meeting of the season with one of their biggest rivals around the league. If the Rangers can keep playing the way they have and do a better job of staying out of the box, there's no reason they shouldn't have anything but success moving forward.
Chris Feldman
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