Rangers honor Sam Rosen, then steal 5-3 victory from Canucks to boost playoff hopes
The New York Rangers saluted Sam Rosen, their longtime television voice, before Saturday afternoon’s game against the Vancouver Canucks, then stole a game they had no right winning.
Jonny Brodzinski’s second goal of the game with 4:13 remaining in regulation broke a tie, and the Rangers boosted their playoff chances with a 5-3 victory that enabled them to avoid being swept on a four-game homestand.
Brodzinski, who had given the Rangers their first lead of the game when he scored 1:39 into the third period, beat Kevin Lankinen from the left circle just 37 seconds after Vancouver’s Brock Boeser had tied the game 3-3.
The win moved the Rangers (34-31-6) within one point of the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference. The Canadiens (33-27-8) overcame a three-goal deficit in the third period against the Colorado Avalanche to get to overtime and assure themselves of a point, but they missed out on the second point when they lost 5-4 in a shootout — with former New York Islanders center Brock Nelson helping out his old team and its biggest rival by scoring the game-deciding goal.
The Rangers are one point ahead of the Islanders (32-28-9), who had to settle for one point in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Calgary Flames. However, the Canadiens and Isles each have two games in hand on the Rangers, as do the Columbus Blue Jackets (31-29-9), who trail the Rangers by three points and the Canadiens by four.
Adam Fox and K’Andre Miller also scored, and Alexis Lafreniere had his first three-assist game for the Rangers before J.T. Miller’s length-of-the-ice empty-net goal with 17 seconds remaining iced the win. Miller, facing his former team for the first time since being acquired from the Canucks on Jan. 31, also had the primary assist on Brodzinski’s first goal.
“We stuck with it,” he said. “Our best period was the third period.”
But the biggest reason the Rangers found a way to win despite being outshot 39-12 was another superb performance by Igor Shesterkin, who finished with 36 saves and at times in the first two periods appeared to be playing 1-on-5. Nine of his saves came against Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes, the 2024 Norris Trophy winner, who was flying all day.
“That’s why they pay him so much money,” Brodzinski joked about Shesterkin. “He’s the best goalie in the League.”
Hughes’ first-period shot turned into a rebound goal by Dakota Joshua, but he wasn’t able to get a puck past Shesterkin and had K’Andre Miller’s shot hit his leg and deflect past Lankinen at 7:20 to make it 3-2.
With the Rangers heading to California for three games, beginning Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings, this was a game they had to have. Unlike a number of other times in recent weeks, they found another gear in the third period and got a desperately needed two points,
Related: Rangers shake up stagnant power play after ‘dismal’ stretch of futility
New York Rangers 5 – Vancouver Canucks 3
After the pregame ceremonies honoring Rosen ended, neither team generated much offense in the early going.
The Rangers went more than five minutes before generating their first shot on goal. Shesterkin made a good early stop on Nils Hoglander’s wide-open shot from the right circle and got a little piece of Jake DeBrusk’s deflection near the seven-minute mark to keep the puck out.
But Matt Rempe’s shot 5:16 into the game was the Rangers’ lone test of Lankinen until the Canucks opened the scoring at 11:51.
Hughes made a great move to shake free of Rempe and get off a shot from the left circle that Shesterkin stopped. However, Joshua got position on former teammate Carson Soucy in front of the net, bounced the first rebound off the post and banged in a second try to put the Canucks ahead 1-0.
Vancouver continued to dominate play, leaving Lankinen by himself for minutes at a time while white jerseys buzzed around the Rangers’ zone. Only Shesterkin’s brilliance kept the deficit to one goal. The Rangers skated off to what’s become a familiar sound at the Garden – a chorus of boos – after being outshot 11-1, out-attempted 24-8 and allowing eight high-danger chances in the penalty-free period while getting just one of their own, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Alexis Lafreniere’s harmless wrister five seconds into the second period drew sarcastic cheers as Lankinen made the easy save. The Canucks then resumed dominating play, but Shesterkin was flawless, helping the Rangers kill a holding penalty to Rempe and an 11-second 5-on-3 advantage after he was called for roughing at 7:45.
DeBrusk’s roughing penalty ended that power play, but the Rangers passed the midway point of the game with just three shots on goal. No. 4 was the charm.
Fox scored one of the more unusual goals of his career at 11:01 to get the Rangers even at 1-1. He waved his stick while doing a fly-by and happened to get a piece of Braden Schneider’s point shot, deflecting it past Lankinen for his sixth of the season. At that point, the Rangers were even on the scoreboard despite being outshot 21-4.
The Canucks got another power play with 46 seconds left when DeBrusk and Will Cuylle each got roughing penalties, but Cuylle also got called for cross-checking. The period ended even at 1-1, although the Canucks outshot the Rangers 13-5 and had a 24-6 edge through 40 minutes. The one area the Rangers had a significant edge was in hits, 39-27.
“There was some yelling in the locker room after the second period,” Brodzinski said.
After Brodzinski put the Rangers ahead 2-1, Rempe had a chance to extend the lead after a giveaway – but ex-Rangers defenseman Victor Mancini got a piece of the shot.
Mancini then made the play that got the Canucks even with 8:38 remaining. Mancini, part of the package the Canucks received in the Miller trade, carried the puck around the net and set up O’Connor in the slot. O’Connor’s first shot hit a leg, but the puck came right back to him for a quick wrister that beat Shesterkin to make it 2-2.
K’Andre Miller’s goal at 12:40 made it 3-2, but Boeser tied it at 15:10 when he came out from behind the net and whipped a shot past Shesterkin to get the Canucks even. The tie didn’t last long — Brodzinski’s second goal put the Rangers in front again, this time for good.
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