Igor Shesterkin, penalty-killers lead Rangers to 3-1 win against Stars in Dallas
Igor Shesterkin and New York’s league-leading penalty-killers put on a show Friday night as the Rangers ended their three-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.
The Stars had seven power plays, including a five-minute advantage in the third period after Matt Rempe was assessed a major penalty for elbowing Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen in the head. The Stars had 21 shots on goal during their 17:00 of power-play time, and Shesterkin stopped them all. He finished the night with 41 saves.
The penalty-killers not only combined with Shesterkin to keep Dallas’ power play off the scoreboard, they also produced a game-tying shorthanded goal by Reilly Smith midway through the first period after the Stars had taken an early 1-0 lead.
Vincent Trocheck scored what proved to be the game-winner at 15:20 of the opening period. Artemi Panarin, who returned after missing two games with an upper-body injury, had the secondary assist.
After all the heroics by Shesterkin and the PK, Chris Kreider ended a seven-game goal-scoring drought by hitting the empty net with 2:06 remaining, setting off a massive sigh of relief for a team that entered the game 3-11-0 in its previous 14 games. Despite all the penalties, the Rangers competed harder than they had for most of the past month, a good sign as they try to put the wheels back on after a bad four-week stretch.
“It’s huge,” defenseman Adam Fox said. “It’s obviously no secret. We haven’t liked our game the past month, call it. We’ve talked as a group. We know we have this in us. It takes everyone to do it. It’s not one guy here and there. It takes everyone.”
Defenseman Will Borgen, who came to New York from Seattle on Wednesday in the trade that sent Kaapo Kakko to the Kraken, played 17:17 in his Rangers debut — including 4:31 on the penalty kill. Rempe, who returned from Hartford of the AHL after the Kakko trade, drew three penalties and nearly scored in the second period before taking the elbowing major and game misconduct in the third.
Coach Peter Laviolette was happy with Rempe’s play, except for the major penalty.
“I thought he had a big impact in the game,” he said. “I would like to stay away from the five-minute major, but he’s doing his best to hit bodies and make a difference in the game. Our guys really rallied around that, as well.”
New York Rangers 3, Dallas Stars 1
The Stars came out flying and put the puck in the net twice in a span of 31 seconds before the game was two minutes old. Luckily for the Rangers, only one of them counted.
Jamie Benn made Mika Zibanejad look like a lamp post as he raced past him to pick up his own missed shot and stuff the puck past Shesterkin 1:09 after the opening face-off. However, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette challenged, saying the play was offside, and the goal was waved off after a video review.
But the Rangers weren’t so lucky 37 seconds later. Shesterkin made a blocker save on a right-point shot from former Rangers defenseman Nils Lundkvist, but the puck landed in the slot where an unchecked Roope Hintz quickly rifled it into the net for a 1-0 lead. It was the 10th time in the past 15 games that the Rangers have allowed the first goal.
The Stars kept pushing the tempo and had the Rangers on their heels until the middle of the period, when New York turned things around after Zibanejad took a slashing penalty at 9:19.
But not only did the Rangers’ league-leading penalty kill hold Dallas without a shot, New York tied the game 1-1 at 10:44. Stars defenseman Thomas Harley misplayed the puck at the right point, Smith grabbed it and raced down the wing and into the left circle before beating Jake Oettinger between the legs.
That goal sparked the Rangers, who began to take over the play and went ahead 2-1 less than five minutes later. Fox carried behind the net and got the puck to Trocheck at the top of the left circle. He stepped into a slap shot and blew it past Oettinger to give the Rangers their first lead since the final buzzer went off in their 3-2 road win against the Buffalo Sabres nine days ago.
After allowing five of the first six shots, the Rangers ended up outshooting the Stars 14-9 – and going 17-3 in the face-off circle.
The second period belonged to the penalty killers and goaltenders. Each team had three power plays; neither one scored as Shesterkin and Oettinger played “can you top this” with brilliant save after brilliant save. Shesterkin’s 18 saves included a terrific glove stop on Wyatt Johnston with less than seven minutes left and saves on Johnston and Matt Duchene in the final minute during the Stars’ fifth power play. Oettinger robbed Filip Chytil as a power play was ending and denied Borgen and Rempe after each slipped behind the defense and came in alone.
Shesterkin put on a show in the third period, especially after Rempe took a five-minute major for elbowing Heiskanen head-first into the glass at 7:13. The Stars were credited with eight shots on goal during the extended power play; Shesterkin stopped them all, including a rocket by Logan Stankoven in the final few seconds.
“I thought he let off a little bit at the end,” Laviolette said. “He’s just such a big guy. We killed the five and we’re moving on.”
Kreider’s empty-netter assured that the Rangers (16-15-1) would go home over .500 again. But they’ve got two more tough opponents before the Christmas break – the Carolina Hurricanes come to Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon, and the Rangers go to Newark on Monday for a matinee against the New Jersey Devils.
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