Easily one of the least exciting games of the seasons as the Rangers went into St. Louis on the second half of a back to back. Despite successfully converting after pulling the goaltender for the extra attacker, the Rangers fell short in overtime which gave them a point as they head out to Ohio for their last regular season road game. Between having played last night and pretty much being locked into their respective playoff spot, there wasn’t much at stake here. The fact that they walked out of that one with a point is pretty satisfactory given the circumstances. With three games left before playoffs, it's pretty likely New York will clinch third in the Metro barring any major downfalls in New Jersey through their last three. Even so, the Rangers would have to win out which isn’t going to necessarily be a priority.
The good news regarding last night was the fact that Jacob Trouba returned to action after leaving the game early the night before with an upper-body injury. After a scoreless first, it was quite evident we were in for a slow night. The assumption was that for most of the team, this game was all about just going through the motions and getting out of it healthy and hopefully with a win. For two Rangers in particular however, last night was a special homecoming. Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola both spent their entire careers with the Blues in St. Louis and last night was their first time at the Enterprise Center as visitors. With how slow the game itself went, each of their standing ovations were without a doubt the highlight of the evening.
Both players spoke with John Giannone in between periods and you can tell for both of them the ovations definitely meant a lot. A bit hard to tell for Mikkola who isn’t the most comfortable with the English language yet but for Tarasenko it was certainly evident. Tarasenko spent over a decade with the Blues, helped them win a Stanley Cup and was a huge part of the community there. So much so that in his first trip back there, he made a sizable donation to a local children’s hospital. Between how good his play is on the ice and how likable he is off it, you have to think a lot of people would love to have him back next season despite how daunting a task it would be in regards to the salary cap.
Nevertheless, someone had to win this game and it was Alexei Toropchenko striking first for the Blues. Artemi Panarin did his classic “stupid blueline shit” and turned the puck over, giving Toropchenko a breakaway to beat Jaro Halak with a clean shot. While it doesn’t justify his error, Panarin was without question disappointed in himself over what became a costly mistake. He would have an assist later in the game to help make up for it but that’s obviously a play that cannot happen in the postseason. He was trying to force a pass to Tarasenko, which is understandable given the situation. I wouldn’t say it’s anything to worry about, had this been a playoff game Panarin would have made the smarter play.
Toropchenko’s goal stood as the only one through two periods of play which set the stage for the third to be the most eventful of the night. Former friend Pavel Buchnevich did the Rangers a solid and took a tipping penalty early in the third to give the Rangers their first power play on the night. Sure enough, that’s all it would take for them to get going as Vladimir Tarasenko found the back of the net on a nice wrist shot to tie the game up at two. Zibanejad and Fox with assists on the play, putting Fox within one of 60 assists on the year. Of course half way through the period Tyler Pitlick found the back of the net to regain the lead for St. Louis. With minimal shots going either way it wasn’t looking like this was going to be the Rangers night. With just over two minutes to go in the game, Justin Faulk took a slashing penalty which gave the Rangers a great opportunity to get some 6 on 4 practice in. Typically, they’re a team that doesn’t do so well with the empty net but low and behold, Vincent Trocheck rung a shot in very early to force this game to overtime. Not only did the Rangers succeed with the empty net but they went a perfect 2 for 2 on the power play. 100% success rate, can’t remember the last time that’s happened.
To overtime we went and of course 76 seconds in, Kasperi Kapanen beat Halak with a quick shot to take away the extra point. Frankly with how that game went, the Rangers are lucky to have gotten a point but most importantly, no one was hurt and for all intents and purposes, it appears that everyone had fun. With that, the Rangers are off to Columbus where they’ll conclude this final regular season road trip before returning home for two more. As I continue to say, enjoy the calm before the storm. Playoffs are a comin’!
Chris Feldman
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