Braden Schneider OT goal lifts Rangers to thrilling 3-2 win against Wild
Braden Schneider scored 1:51 into overtime to help the New York Rangers end a four-game skid with an exciting 3-2 road victory against the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday.
The Rangers (32-28-6) had been 0-2-2 in their previous four games, and let a pair of leads slip away in the third period before Schneider’s heroics. The second point earned in overtime gives the Rangers 70 on the season, tying them with the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, though Columbus has a game in hand. Those teams will meet in the Rangers next game, Saturday night in Columbus.
Schneider accepted a pass from Artemi Panarin in the offensive zone and the 23-year-old defensemen skated from right wing into the middle of the ice, made a neat toe-drag move, then whistled a backhand shot past Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson for the game-winner. Schneider’s fifth goal of the season, second in three games, was his most important by far.
“It was a beauty,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said about Schneider’s goal. “That was something. He’s probably still smiling.”
Vincent Trocheck and Jonny Brodzinski also scored for the Rangers, who began their three-game road trip Tuesday with a 2-1 loss in Winnipeg to the Jets. Panarin extended his point streak to seven games with the assist on Schneider’s goal. Nine different Rangers recorded at least one point.
Igor Shesterkin didn’t face a shot in overtime and finished with 26 saves. His counterpart, Gustavsson, made 29 saves.
Marcus Johansson and Frederick Gaudreau scored for the Wild, who’ve lost six of their past nine games (3-5-1).
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New York Rangers 3 – Minnesota Wild 2 (OT)
After a fast-paced scoreless first period that featured plenty of scoring chances for each side, the Rangers tilted the ice in their favor in the second period and scored the only goal in the opening 40 minutes.
Trocheck scored that goal at 6:45 of the second, when he first misfired on a shot after a nice touch pass from Will Cuylle in front. Trocheck, though, collected the loose puck and roofed it over Gustavsson’s glove to make it 1-0 Rangers. It was Trocheck’s first goal in 12 games since Feb. 7, and 18th of the season.
The primary assist was part of a tour-de-force outing for Cuylle who took Alexis Lafreniere’s spot on the line with Trocheck and Artemi Panarin in a bit of a shakeup among the top-six forwards. Lafreniere moved to the left side of J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad amid a 13-game goal-scoring drought.
In the opening six minutes of the game, Cuylle had two excellent scoring chances off the rush. First, it was a quick snap shot through traffic that forced Gustavsson to make a sharp pad save. Then a few minutes later, Cuylle ripped a right-wing shot off a 3-on-2 rush that was gobbled up by the Wild goalie.
Cuylle finished tied with a team-high four shots on goal and led all skaters with seven hits.
Also in the opening minutes of the game, Brett Berard had the Rangers best scoring chance. Chris Kreider tapped the puck toward the slot from the right-wing boards and Berard had a clean look and fired a shot that Gustavsson got a piece off before the puck rolled just wide of the net.
Shesterkin stopped all 13 shots he faced in the first period, but his best save came at 11:28 of the second period. The Wild generated a 3-on-2 opportunity and Shesterkin read the passing sequence perfectly to fly over in time to stone Devin Shore on the doorstep.
The third period began with the Rangers failing on their third power play of the night against the 31st-ranked Wild penalty kill — a power play that began late in the second and carried into the third.
Then Matt Rempe was whistled for a defensive-zone interference penalty at 1:55 and exactly two minutes later with the penalty box door opening, the Wild tied the game. Johansson skated with speed over the blue line, eluded stick checks by Cuylle and Sam Carrick, and wired a shot that beat Shesterkin blocker side to make it 1-1 at 3:55. It was his first goal in 17 games.
The Rangers answered back at 6:37 when Brodzinski took a drop pass by Zac Jones off the rush and quickly snapped it past Gustavsson’s glove for his seventh goal of the season. It was a big-time moment for the Minnesota native, who hosted several of his Rangers teammates for dinner at his home the night before the game.
Shortly thereafter, Jones was assessed a double-minor for high-sticking Johansson at 6:58 and the Wild promptly tied the game 2-2 at 8:42. Gaudreau showed a quick pair of hands down low to beat Shesterkin in tight for his 15th goal of the season.
The Rangers killed off the second minor and the teams finally got back to playing 5v5. Though the Wild had the better of the play most of the rest of regulation, neither team scored again in the third period. When the horn sounded, the Rangers were guaranteed at least one point in the standings.
It didn’t take them to get that much-needed second point, scoring on the only shot of overtime. The Rangers had been just 1-6 in games decided in the five-minute overtime this season before Schneider’s game-winner.
Now, the Rangers head to Columbus, where they seek payback after losing to the Blues Jackets at home last Sunday 7-3. More importantly a win would move them past the Blue Jackets in the standings and cap a successful road trip.
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