3 Rangers takeaways after Jonathan Quick gets 400th NHL win in victory against Vegas

NHL: Vegas Golden Knights at New York Rangers
Credit: Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Jonathan Quick made some history and helped the New York Rangers end a three-game losing streak at the same time.

Quick made 34 saves to become the 15th goaltender in NHL history – and the first born in the United States – to win 400 games as the Rangers rallied for three third-period goals to defeat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday night.

The 38-year-old kept the Rangers close for two periods before the Rangers offense came alive in the third. Mika Zibanejad’s power-play goal at 5:04 tied the game 2-2, K’Andre Miller converted a pass from Zibanejad at 11:33 for the go-ahead goal, and Artemi Panarin put it away at 18:19 with a power-play goal.

“I thought we got better as the game went on,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said postgame. “A little slow in the first. Better in the second. Our best was in the third.”

But the night belonged to Quick, who also became the third active goaltender to win 400 games — Marc-Andre Fleury of the Minnesota Wild (572) and Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers (448) are the others.

It was a win the Rangers desperately needed after three straight losses. They jumped up a spot into 12th in the Eastern Conference, five pointe behind the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets, who are tied for the two wild cards.

Related: Adam Edstrom misses first game of season for Rangers

3 Rangers takeaways from 4-2 win against Golden Knights

NHL: Vegas Golden Knights at New York Rangers
Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Here are three takeaways from the game Sunday:

Mr. 400

There was perhaps some irony that Quick defeated Vegas and goaltender Adin Hill to reach the 400-win milestone. Quick wound up with the Golden Knights toward the end of the 2022-23 season and was 5-2-2, albeit with a 3.13 goals-against average and .901 save percentage. But he was a spectator during their run to the Stanley Cup in the spring of 2023, watching Laurent Brossoit and then Hill lead Vegas to the Cup. He added a third ring to the two he won with the Los Angeles Kings (2012 and 2014), but it wasn’t the same.

The Golden Knights didn’t re-sign Quick, who grew up in Connecticut rooting for the Rangers and signed with them on July 1, 2023. He was superb as Igor Shesterkin’s backup last season (18-6-2, 2.62 GAA, .911 save percentage) and re-signed for this season.

It took him exactly one month after getting win No. 399 by making 32 saves in a 2-1 win against the Boston Bruins at the Garden on Jan. 2. But on Sunday he gave the Rangers exactly what they needed after Shesterkin allowed five goals to Boston in his third straight loss Saturday.

Quick, who’s historically been reluctant to talk about himself, said reaching the 400-win milestone “means I’ve been lucky enough to play with a lot of great hockey players. I’m just grateful.”

He also appreciated the efforts of his teammates, who mobbed him after the final buzzer sounded.

“It was a great effort up and down the lineup,” Quick said. “Everyone competed. It was a gutsy effort by everyone.”

Miller time at MSG

J.T. Miller has given the Rangers a spark in his two games since being acquired by the Rangers from the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night. He scored two goals in the 6-3 loss at Boston on Saturday, then had two assists in his return to the Garden on Sunday – including the primary one on Zibanejad’s game-tying power-play goal 5:04 into the third period.

More important was the way Miller’s physical play invigorated the Rangers after a slow start. He was tied for second on the Rangers with five hits, giving him eight in two games.

“We were looking for some pop going out there in the second period and he drove it to the net, just got into some scuffles and just mixed it up,” Laviolette said. “We needed more of that. We needed to get involved in the game and that continued on, physicality started to show. Will had the big hit and so there was some good life. Sometimes, you’ve got to get dragged in there a little bit, and I think he’s really good at that.”

In his first two games, Miller has shown the kind of intensity that the Rangers have been missing on too many nights this season.

“He plays with a lot of intensity,” Zibanejad said. “I like the way he talks a lot on the bench. He talks a lot on the ice. He has a lot of ideas and it’s good because the communication makes it a lot easier, especially early on when we haven’t played together for a long time.”

Big win on a night when most wild-card contenders lost

The Rangers picked the right night to end their losing streak.

The Blue Jackets, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers – four of the teams battling for a wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference – all lost Sunday. The only team to win was the Red Wings, who extended their winning streak to six games with a 3-2 overtime victory against the Canucks in Vancouver.

NHL: Vegas Golden Knights at New York Rangers
Danny Wild-Imagn Images

The Rangers (25-23-4) have two days off before the Bruins, who are now one point out of a playoff spot, come to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. The Pittsburgh Penguins, who are two points behind the Rangers but have played two more games, come in on Friday night. Then it’s a quick flight to Columbus for a Saturday night meeting with the Blue Jackets. The Rangers have won both games against the Penguins this season and topped the Jackets 1-0 in a shootout at MSG on Jan. 18.

After that, the NHL takes nearly two weeks off for the 4 Nations Face-off, with Zibanejad playing for Sweden, Adam Fox, Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller for Team USA and defenseman Urho Vaakanainen for Finland after being added to the roster on Sunday as an injury replacement for Miro Heiskanen.

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