3 Rangers takeaways after boosting their playoff hopes by stealing 5-3 win against Canucks
The New York Rangers saved their season on Saturday afternoon — at least for the moment.
The Rangers had lost the first three games of a four-game homestand and dropped out of the top eight in the Eastern Conference before the Vancouver Canucks came to Madison Square Garden. After the Rangers honored longtime TV play-by-play man Sam Rosen, who’s retiring after this season, the Canucks dominated the game in almost every facet – except the one that counted.
The home side made the most of its 12 shots on goal, scoring four times in the third period for a 5-3 victory in a game it realistically had no right to win.
The victory pulled the Rangers (34-31-6) within one point of the Montreal Canadiens (33-27-9), who had to settle for one point when they overcame a three-goal third-period deficit against the Colorado Avalanche only to lose 5-4 in a shootout. The Rangers moved one point ahead of the New York Islanders (32-28-9), who lost 4-3 in overtime to the Calgary Flames. Montreal and the Islanders each have two games in hand on the Blueshirts.
Before Jonny Brodzinski’s second goal of the third period with 4:13 remaining in regulation put the Rangers ahead to stay, the day belonged to Igor Shesterkin, who made 36 saves on a day his team was outshot 39-12 (11 plus J.T. Miller’s empty-netter with 13 seconds remaining). It was the second time in three games that the Rangers were outshot by more than 20; the Calgary Flames had a 35-13 margin in their 2-1 win at the Garden on Tuesday.
Brodzinski said there was “a little bit of yelling in the room” between the second and third periods after the Rangers were outshot 24-6 through 40 minutes but were tied 1-1 thanks to Shesterkin’s superb play.
The message was simple: “We’re doing too many things to hurt ourselves,” he said. “We’re not finishing checks. We weren’t getting pucks deep, and when we were, we had one guy going hard (and) we had two guys kind of sitting back in our lock. Just play way more direct, a little bit more simple, and good things happen.”
Unlike the previous three losses during the homestand, in which they managed a total of one goal in the third period, the Rangers stepped up their game. They scored four times on six shots and got 13 saves from Shesterkin, who stood especially tall in the final 2:15 after the Canucks pulled goaltender Kevin Lankinen.
For the first time in a while, the Rangers found a way to win a close game. With time running out and one of the toughest remaining schedules in the NHL – including a three-game California trip that begins Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings — they’ll need to keep doing just that.
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Three takeaways from Rangers’ much-needed win against Canucks
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s vital victory against Vancouver.
1. Perfect end to a perfect day
The Rangers always do ceremonies well, and the festivities honoring Rosen were no exception.
From bringing back his pre-Joe Micheletti partners, Phil Esposito and John Davidson, to the video and the speeches, the Rangers honored Rosen for his 40 years behind the mike with MSG Networks. Every plaudit was well-earned – just ask our own Jim Cerny.
But the day was almost a dud. The first two periods were an exercise in futility; only Shesterkin’s heroics kept the game even at 1-1 through 40 minutes. However, the Rangers made the most of their opportunities in the third period, scoring three times on five shots while taking advantage of a couple of defensive breakdowns by the Canucks — and getting a break when K’Andre Miller’s shot hit the leg of Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (the best skater on either team) and went past goaltender Kevin Lankinen to put the Rangers up 3-2.
“It was kind of a mixed bag,” said J.T. Miller, who had an assist and an empty-net goal in his first game against the team that traded him to the Rangers on Jan. 31. “They probably outplayed us for most of the game today, but we stuck with it. I thought our best period was in the third period. You definitely don’t want to give up that many after you give up the lead, what, three times? We’ll take the points this time of year though.”
2. Here’s Jonny
The Rangers have struggled to get offense from their bottom-six forwards for the past three months. That’s one reason Brodzinski’s big afternoon was so rewarding.
The journeyman center had his second two-goal game this season – and the second of his career – against the Canucks. His nine goals in just 40 games are three more than he had in 57 games last season.
“I liked the responses in the third period,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “If we scored, they scored, the game came back to even and we put it back in there again. Obviously, Jonny had a big third period for us too. It was nice to get responses in the third period and get the win.”
3. More Igor heroics
Shesterkin is the biggest reason the Rangers stole two points.
With all respect to future Hockey Hall of Famer Jonathan Quick, if coach Peter Laviolette had opted to sit his No. 1 goalie against Vancouver, we’d likely be talking about another loss. No. 31 was superb from the opening face-off to the final buzzer. There were times, especially in the first two periods, when he looked like he was out there trying to fend off the Flames all by himself.
The Rangers became only the second team this season to win a game with 12 or fewer shots on goal – and one of those was into an empty net. Shesterkin was the reason they had a chance to win.
“There’s a reason why they paid him so much money,” a smiling Brodzinski said. “He’s the best goalie in the league.”
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