3 Rangers takeaways from thrilling overtime win in State of Hockey
The State of Hockey got a pretty darned exciting hockey game Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center. The New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild went back and forth on the scoreboard in a fast-paced exciting 61+ minutes of action before a gorgeous overtime winner by Braden Schneider settled things in favor of the visitors.
It was a fun watch and certainly a happy plane ride to Columbus, where the Rangers will close out their three-game road trip with a hugely important one Saturday night against the Blue Jackets. Those teams are now tied at 70 points in the battle for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
The Rangers (32-28-6) ended a four-game skid (0-2-2) with this 3-2 win, only their second in eight games decided in the five-minute overtime this season. They never trailed in this one, but never led by more than one. It was tight all the way through, with the teams trading chances and receiving solid goaltending from Igor Shesterkin and Filip Gustavsson at both ends.
Vincent Trocheck ended an 11-game goal-scoring schneid for the Rangers, and Artemi Panarin extended his point streak to seven games with an assist on the game-winner. Their other two goal scorers were unheralded forward Jonny Brodzinski and Schneider, a light-scoring defenseman. So, yes, contributions came from up and down the lineup Thursday.
They’ve played two pretty solid games to start this road trip, beginning with a 2-1 loss to the NHL-best Winnipeg Jets. Remember these past two games came after a brutal 7-3 home-ice loss to the Blues Jackets this past Sunday, one they’ll try to avenge Saturday at Nationwide Arena.
Related: Winners, losers from thrilling OT win for Rangers against Wild
Three takeaways from Rangers OT win against Wild
Here are three takeaways from the Rangers massive road win Thursday.
1. Thing of beauty
There was so much to like from the Rangers point of view about the 1:51 worth of overtime hockey they played Thursday. It started with solid defensive structure 3-on-3 that gave the Wild nothing as their patient opponents weaved in and out of the offensive zone trying to find an opening to generate a scoring chance. The Rangers gave them none. So, despite the Wild owning the puck much of the extra session, they never came close to sniffing a scoring opportunity, nor did they record a single shot on goal.
When the Rangers finally got the puck back, they made quick work of things. J.T. Miller changed the entire pace of overtime to that point by speeding through the neutral zone and over the blue line to back off the Wild defenders. He got the puck to Panarin along the right-wing wall, and the Breadman dropped the puck to Schneider with a slick behind-the-back-pass.
The 23-year-old did the rest. Schneider skated to his left with Miller creating havoc in front of the net, made a slick toe-drag move, then wired a backhand shot up and over Gustavsson’s glove to set off a playoff-like celebration.
2. Hometown boys do good
Jonny Brodzinski and K’Andre Miller were well represented at Xcel Energy Center, with Brodzinski saying that he had around 60 friends and family in attendance. It was a homecoming for the Minnesota boys and neither disappointed in the Rangers big win.
Brodzinski scored a beauty that gave New York a 2-1 lead at 6:38 of the third period. Taking a drop pass from Zac Jones over the blue line on the rush, Brodzinski snapped his seventh goal over the glove of Gustavsson for his first goal in this building since high school.
Miller, a native of St. Paul, the city where this arena sits, logged a team-high 22:33 TOI and led the Rangers with three blocked shots. He also had the secondary assist on Trocheck’s game-opening goal in the second period, zipping a crisp pass from the point to Will Cuylle down low. Cuylle’s touch pass into the slot set up Trocheck’s 18th goal.
3. All cool in new spot
Cuylle shifted to right wing and played on a line with Trocheck and Panarin, replacing the struggling Alexis Lafreniere, who moved on to a line with J.T. Miller and Mike Zibanejad. Cuylle was a force all night, starting with a pair of good scoring chances off the rush in the opening six minutes of the game.
The 23-year-old forward finished with a game-high seven hits and tied for the Rangers lead with four shots on goal. Then there was the nice touch pass on Trocheck’s goal. Safe to say, Cuylle fit right in on that line.
Meanwhile, Lafreniere shifted to left wing for the first time since the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. His goalless streak ran to 14 games and he finished with one shot on goal in another fairly quiet performance.
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