Rangers stop the bleeding, edge Blues 3-2 at MSG: key takeaways
This time, Madison Square Garden wasn’t a House of Horrors for the home team, as the New York Rangers played a diligent 60 minutes and produced just enough offense to edge the St. Louis Blues 3-2 on Monday night.
The win was only the second this season on home ice for the Rangers (11-11-2), who are 2-7-1 at MSG. And it came at a good time since it ended their longest losing streak of the season at four.
Alexis Lafreniere and Adam Edstrom scored third-period goals for the Rangers after the teams entered the final stanza tied 1-1. The Rangers are 3-4-1 when tied after two periods this season.
Vincent Trocheck also helped spark the Rangers, scoring a goal after skipping the morning skate as a precaution against an undisclosed injury. The top defense pair of Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov was outstanding at both ends of the rink, and each contributed a pair of assists.
Igor Shesterkin made 20 saves in the victory, including stopping nine of 10 shots in the third period. His counterpart, Joel Hofer, finished with 17 saves and lost for the first time in three career starts against New York.
Though the Blues were credited with only one high-danger scoring chance in the opening 20 minutes, when the Rangers had six, per Natural Stat Trick, it was the visitors who scored the only goal of the first period. Dylan Holloway wired a terrific shot from the left circle top shelf over Shesterkin’s glove at 17:36 to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.
It was his sixth goal of the season and first in five games, but it wasn’t considered a high-danger chance. St. Louis’ only one of those occurred 11 minutes earlier, when Shesterkin stoned Brayden Schenn on a breakaway, with the Blues captain failing to beat him five-hole.
The Rangers didn’t score until the game was just past the midway point. But it was worth the wait because Trocheck’s goal at 10:06 of the second period was a beauty.
Fox patiently waited inside his own blue line with the puck as his teammates raced the other way. He then zipped a perfect pass down the middle to Jonny Brodzinski, who drove to the net before sending a perfect backhand feed to Trocheck to his right. Trocheck buried his fourth goal, short side, off the rush to tie things up 1-1.
Will Cuylle nearly gave the Rangers their first lead late in the second period. But his left-circle drive off the rush was neatly kicked out by Hofer with a minute to play in the period.
Cuylle did, however, help the Rangers take a 2-1 lead 40 seconds into the third period. He won a puck battle in the offensive zone, and pushed it back to Gavrikov at the left point. Gavrikov sailed a puck toward the net, where Lafreniere deflected it past Hofer for his fifth goal of the season.
Gavrikov was in on the next goal, as well. In deep, the defenseman chased down a puck behind the goal line and slid a pass into the slot, where Edstrom made no mistake hammering it past Hofer at 8:56, his second goal in three game making it 3-1.
The Rangers killed off a four-minute high-sticking double minor against Brett Berard at 14:09, before Schenn scored of a deflection in front at 18:45 with Hofer on the bench for a sixth attacker.
Unlike other nightmarish endings at MSG this season, the Rangers brought this one to the wire for a much-needed and well-deserved victory.
Key takeaways after Rangers defeat Blues 3-2 at The Garden
Rangers return to right recipe
After the morning skate, Rangers coach Mike Sullivan didn’t hold back when assessing his team’s play during the four-game losing streak, including three straight on the recently concluded road trip.
“I don’t think the team as a group, over the last handful of games, has played the game the right way,” he said. “The last handful of games, I think, we’re chasing offense – and as a result, we’re not getting as much, and we’re giving up a whole lot more. And I don’t think that’s a recipe for success.”
Let’s just say the message was received loud and clear in the Rangers room. The Rangers played a low event game, featuring stout defense, and a north-south straight ahead style that suited them well.
Yes, it was against one of the lowest scoring teams in the League, and one of the bottom feeders defensively, too, but the Blues didn’t play poorly Monday. It’s just that the Rangers are much tougher to beat when they commit to the right recipe, as they did throughout the full 60 minutes against the Blues.
Foxy
It was another outstanding night for Fox, who logged 24 minutes of ice time, and picked up two more assists. Though only one of his six shot attempts actually made its way on goal, Fox was sound in his own end, and a play-driver in the offensive zone. He and Gavrikov (game-high 26:09 TOI) looked the part of the League’s top defensive pairs.
Fox is piling up assists, by the way. He has five in his past three games, and 10 in his past eight. His 18 assists lead the Rangers, and are third among all NHL defensemen, behind Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche (20) and Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes (19).
Brett Berard provides much-needed spark in limited ice-time
Sullivan said of Berard before the game that “He can really skate. He brings a ton of energy. He brings a little physicality to our team, so I’m sure he’ll give us a spark.”
Yes. Yes. Yes. And … yes.
The Rangers recalled Berard from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Sunday, and the 23-year-old forward brought each those elements into his first NHL game of the season. He logged 9:21 TOI, including fewer than three minutes in the second period, playing on the third line, but played with plenty of jump, getting himself in the middle of several scoring opportunities.
On his first shift of the game, Berard flew down left wing, accepted a pass, and whipped a quick shot just to the outside of the net. At 15:11 of the first period, Noah Laba found Berard between the circles for another quick release, this shot gobbled up by Hofer. Early in the second period, Berard returned the favor, zipping a pass off the rush to Laba, who slightly deflected it when cutting to the net, forcing Hofer to make another save.
Berard finished with two shots on goal and four attempts. He also was bailed out by his teammates for taking that double-minor for high-sticking late in the third period …
Game-saving PK
Berard accidentally caught Jake Neighbours in the mouth with his stick and drew quite a bit of blood with 5:51 remaining in regulation and the Rangers leading 3-1. The resulting double minor afforded the Blues a prime opportunity to tie the game — or at least pull within a goal. They got neither because the Rangers were extremely disciplined on the PK, used their sticks well to disrupt passes, and blocked several shots. Plus they had Shesterkin between the pipes.
At one point, Gavrikov played 2:30 consecutively, when the Rangers were mostly pinned in their end of the ice. The Blues even pulled Hofer to create a 6-on-4 advantage with about a minute left in Berard’s penalty. The closest the Blues came to scoring was, actually, really close. Pavel Buchnevich deflected Logan Mailloux’s shot off the cross bar. That was a difference maker, especially since the Blues scored shortly after Berard exited the penalty box.
