Rangers and Georgiev get thumped by the Canucks 5-2
It was a Sunday night affair at Madison Square Garden between the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks but it was not going to be the results fans wanted.
The Blueshirts came out strong, but one mistake put the Canucks up early to start the ball rolling in their favor. A rusty Alexandar Georgiev was no match for a stellar Thatcher Demko, who stymied the Rangers for 50 minutes to secure a 5-2 win.
Recap: Canucks 5 vs Rangers 2
The Rangers had another good start but Demko had an even better one. Vancouver’s goalie made 13 saves in the first period including a great stop on K’Andre Miller, who snuck from the point and almost put in a beautiful Alexis Lafrenière feed.
Meanwhile, Georgiev tried his best to shake off the rust after not playing for a month. He let in 2 on 11 shots both set up by J.T. Miller. Vancouver’s top scorer has been the subject of trade rumors for months with the Rangers expected to be the top pursuer.
On the first goal, the Rangers fled the zone too soon and Miller found Tanner Pearson unchallenged in the slot. The next goal was a backbreaker with 39 seconds left on the clock as Tyler Myers shot was completely stoppable.
“We’ve been in this spot a couple of times this season,” Kevin Rooney said. “We were in Vancouver up by two and they came back on us, so it’s our turn to come back here.”
Rangers power outage
The second period was no better for Georgiev or the Rangers as Vancouver outshot them 15-6.
By the time the middle frame was over the Canucks scored two more times, including on their only power play chance to head into the third period up 4-0.
The most concerning aspect after 40 minutes of play was the Rangers inability to score on a single power play against the 32nd ranked PK in the league.
Alexis Lafrenière ends the goal drought
Alexis Lafrenière broke Demko’s shutout bid and Rangers’ goal drought 9:53 into the third period. The 20 year-old wasted no time absolutely blasting a shot off a great feed by Mika Zibanejad.
New York continued the desperate tempo and cut the lead in half on a Ryan Strome goal. He banged home a rebound off an Artemi Panarin shot. Adam Fox picked up the other assist to add to his season totals.
However, that’s where the good times ended as Elias Petterssen was able to get an empty net goal to ensure the Canucks sweep of the season series against the Rangers. Demko would get the assist on the goal to put a cherry on top of his night. He finished the game with 32 saves for his 23rd win.
The loss coupled with the Penguins win drops the Rangers three points behind Pittsburgh.
“We got some great looks in the first (period), but you leave down two,” Strome said afterwards. “It’s a little discouraging… Obviously a frustrating result.”
Notable Rangers
- Alexandar Georgiev stopped 29 of 33
- Alexis Lafrenière now has 4 goals in his last 7 games
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