Rangers and Alexandar Georgiev have a rough night in Minnesota
The New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild squared off for the second time this season. It was also a homecoming for Minnesota native, K’Andre Miller playing for the first time at the Xcel Energy Center.
“It’s been a lot to take in honestly,” Miller said. “I have a lot of friends and family here, so I am just trying to take it all in.”
The Blueshirts were looking for their fourth straight win, and a modicum of revenge for the Wild spoiling Henrik Lundqvist night. However, the team needed to be sharp defensively with a struggling Alexandar Georgiev in net.
They were not, and they paid for it.
Recap: Wild 5 vs Rangers 2
Minnesota grabbed a 1-0 lead at 10:38 of the first period. Kirill Kaprizov carried the puck into the offensive zone and left a drop pass for Hartman, who zipped a wrist shot from the high slot into the net for his 23rd goal of the season.
The Wild increased their advantage to 2-0 at 14:41 of the first period. Eriksson Ek redirected a shot into the net for his 17th goal of the season and his first since Feb. 20.
Jordan Greenway notched his 100th career point on the play with the primary assist.
Rangers tied it…briefly
New York trimmed the deficit to 2-1 at 5:03 of the second period. Dryden Hunt buried a one-timer on a two-on-one rush with Ryan Strome for his fourth goal.
The Rangers pulled even at 2-2 a few minutes later on a short-handed goal by Mika Zibanejad. He poked the puck free and scored on a forehand shot for his 22nd goal.
That was Zibanejad’s 10th shorthanded of his career and 8th with the Rangers which ties him for 9th all time. Mark Messier leads the Rangers all-time with 23 career shorthanded tallies.
The Wild closed the second period with three straight goals to surge back in front 5-2.
Fiala registered the go-ahead goal on the power play with 11:47 left in the period.
Minnesota grabbed a two-goal lead less than four minutes later on Foligno’s 19th goal. He turned to his backhand on a breakaway off a stretch pass from Matt Dumba.
The Wild made it 5-2 on Fiala’s second goal of the game and 20th of the season. He converted on a backhand shot after the Rangers turned over the puck in their offensive end.
Rangers just didn’t have it
Wild goaltender Cam Talbot stopped 23 of 25 shots to improve to 21-12-1 as the New York Rangers simply could not muster any sustained pressure. The Blueshirts did not get a single power play in the game.
“We didn’t play as good as we could’ve– I thought we should’ve played harder,” Gerard Gallant said. “[Minnesota was a hungrier team.”
For New York, goaltender Alexandar Georgiev gave up five goals on 28 shots to fall to 7-9-2.
“It’s gotta be tough for [Georgiev]– hopefully he’ll get a win,” Gallant said. “We’re about winning hockey games. You feel for him– he doesn’t get many games. We can’t worry about individual players…but I still feel confident about him.”
Notable Rangers
- Alexandar Georgiev made 23 saves on 28 shots
- Dryden Hunt’s goal was his first in 30 games
- Ryan Strome played career game 600
- Patrik Nemeth led the team with 6 hits
- K’Andre Miller led the team with 23:00 TOI
Tomorrow (Wednesday, Mar. 9): Practice at Enterprise Center (1:00 PM CT/2:00 PM ET)
Next Game: Thursday, Mar. 10 at St. Louis Blues (8:00 PM ET – TV: MSG)
*Schedule subject to change
NHL Rumors
Breaking down the top 10 players that are going to be traded by the NHL Trade Deadline. Read more.
–Field Level Media contributed to this report
More About:Blueshirts GameDay