Dylan Garand stars in NHL debut, but Rangers fall to Jets 3-2 in shootout
Dylan Garand made 35 saves in an impressive NHL debut, but couldn’t seal the deal in the shootout Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. As a result, the New York Rangers dropped a 3-2 decision to the Winnipeg Jets.
Garand’s save total was third most by a Rangers goalie making his NHL debut. The 23-year-old rookie allowed single goals in the first and second periods, and stopped all 12 shots he faced with the score tied in the third period and overtime. But Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi beat him in the shootout, where at the other end of the ice, Jets goalie Eric Comrie denied Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller.
“That was awesome. It was pretty surreal. I really just tried to be present and take it all in. It was everything you could ever hope and dream of. It sucks to not get the win for the guys, but it was a dream come true,” Garand stated postgame.
Miller had two assists for the Rangers (28-33-9), who earned a standings point, but lost their fourth straight game (0-3-1). Tye Kartye and Mika Zibanejad scored for New York, which managed 29 shots against Comrie, including four in overtime, when they had a full two-minute power play.
Despite the two Vezina Trophy winners — Igor Shesterkin and Connor Hellebuyck — watching from their respective benches, the understudies more than held their own in this one.
Garand stopped 10 shots in the first period, when the Rangers started slowly and were out-shot 11-4. The rookie looked poised and surrendered only an Adam Lowry goal down-low after a pretty tic-tac-toe passing sequence that involved Cole Perfetti and Vilardi at 13:06. Garand closed out his first period in the NHL by making a flashy glove save on Jets defenseman Dylan DeMelo with under a minute remaining.
The Rangers were a different team in the second period, playing with more jump and totaling 16 shots on goal. Kartye scored 41 seconds in after the puck found him alone in the slot. Less than four minutes later, Kartye was flat-out robbed by Comrie, who made a sensational left-pad save on a one-timer in the low slot after a pretty feed from Miller.
Twenty seconds later, Garand made a quick glove save on Perfetti to keep the game tied 1-1.
With Taylor Raddysh in the penalty box beginning at 5:22, Garand confidently made four saves in an extended sequence in New York’s end. However, on the next rush into the offensive zone, Winnipeg regained the lead when Vilardi zipped a one-timer past Garand for his 27th goal at 6:43.
Garand made his biggest save at 11:10 when his quick poke check stymied Connor on a short-handed breakaway. After that failed power play, the Rangers got a second chance at 12:56, when Perfetti took a tripping penalty. Zibanejad capitalized, hammering his 30th goal short side past Comrie to make it 2-2 at 14:03.
The Jets took it to the Rangers in the third period, outshooting their hosts 11-5, but Garand was up to the challenge, including four important saves during a Winnipeg power play after Matthew Robertson was assessed a high-sticking minor at 12:54.
Garand also faced a 2-on-1 Winnipeg rush but Connor chipped his shot wide at 16:44. At the other end of the ice, Comrie denied Alexis Lafreniere’s jam shot in the closing seconds to send this one to overtime.
The Rangers failed on a 4-on-3 power play during overtime, after Mark Scheifele was whistled for an interference penalty against Vladislav Gavrikov at 1:39. Then Lafreniere took a hooking penalty with 12 seconds to go in OT, and Garand had to make one important save to get this game to the shootout.
Key takeaways after Rangers lose 3-2 in shootout against Jets
Grand Garand
Garand was deservedly named the game’s First Star, and certainly was the best player in blue all afternoon. He didn’t show many — if any — nerves, which was a good thing, especially in the first period when his teammates didn’t exactly come roaring out of the gate to play their best in front of the rookie.
Relying on four seasons of pro experience with Hartford of the American Hockey League, Garand looked poised and confident right from the get-go. He impressed specifically with his glove, and hardly allowing any rebound opportunities for the Jets.
Simply, Garand was ready for this moment. Ten saves in the first period, 13 in the second, 11 in the third, and one more in overtime. Though, the shootout had him a bit frustrated. Connor beat him 5-hole and Vilardi snapped one under his glove.
Mika Magic
Zibanejad became the seventh player in Rangers history to score 30 goals four times. Jean Ratelle did it six times, and Rod Gilbert five. Zibanejad joined Phil Esposito, Anders Hedberg, Adam Graves, and Steve Vickers with four seasons of 30 or more goals wearing the Blueshirt.
His goal Sunday was the 280th of his Rangers career, tying him with Graves for fourth most in franchise history. For good measure, it was his 122nd power-play goal with them, extending his franchise record.
Zibanejad now has a three-game goal streak and four-game point streak, heading into his 1,000th NHL game Monday against … the Ottawa Senators, the team that selected him No. 6 overall in the 2011 NHL Draft.
Slow starters
Another slow start was suboptimal for the Rangers on Sunday. They were fortunate that Garand was as sound as he was. It’s not that the Rangers were blow out of their own building in the opening 20 minutes. They were competent defensively. But the Rangers just could not generate any zone time until the second period.
They actually recorded their first shots on goal while killing off a penalty, taken by Kartye 6:26 into the game. Conor Sheary floated a long shot in from outside the blue line, and Miller followed by pushing a face-off win toward the net that Comrie easily stopped.
New York’s first even-strength shot on goal came at 14:26, a long-range wrister by Will Borgen.
Miller did hit the post at 6:20, following a give-and-go with Kartye and a quick backhand, forehand move. But there was zero sustained Rangers pressure until they out-shot the Jets 16-14 in a better-skating second period.
For a team that doesn’t score a lot of goals anyway, these slow starts are not exactly a great recipe for success.
