Sharks rally to take a bite out of Rangers in OT
The New York Rangers blew a two-goal lead in the third period to finish their four-game road trip with a 1-2-1 record after a 3-2 overtime loss to the last-place San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.
While scrambling around in their zone in the extra period, Tomas Hertl was left alone on the side of the net, firing home the game-winner at 1:29 of overtime to give the Sharks their 13th win of the year and dropping the Rangers’ record to 4-6-2 since Jan. 1.
The visitors, who were up 2-0 just two minutes into the second period, got goals from Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin, while Igor Shesterkin made 19 saves in the defeat.
Despite the mismatch on paper, with New York entering the contest as the eighth-best team in the standings, they didn’t bury the 32nd-rank squad, who had a goal differential of minus-91 and playing for the second consecutive night.
Sharks’ netminder Mackenzie Blackwood made 29 saves to help spark a San Jose comeback in the third period as the Rangers lacked the killer instinct in the final game of an important road trip.
“We made mistakes in the third period and it cost us,” coach Peter Laviolette noted. “They were able to tie it up and win it in OT. That’s disappointing.”
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San Jose Sharks 3 vs New York Rangers 2 (OT)
Fox got the visitors on the board early in the first period, poking home a loose puck under Blackwood. Initially, he started the play with a shot on goal from the left circle, which the Sharks netminder kicked out to Vincent Trocheck, who got the puck back into the slot with Alexis Lafreniere getting a touch before Fox gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 7:55.
Both teams played a relatively quiet first period, combing for 10 shots. On fresh ice to begin the second period, Panarin sniped home his 29th goal with a beautiful shot from the top of the left circle just 1:38 into the middle frame. Fox picked up his second point with a helper, while K’Andre Miller earned a second assist on the play.
The Sharks had just one win this year when trailing after two periods and began their comeback by dominating the Rangers in the first half of the final period. Nico Sturm fired up the relativity quiet home crowd with a goal at 2:19. After an offensive zone faceoff win, Ryan Carpenter tied up the contest on a snapshot at 4:27.
After two goals in 2:06, San Jose kept pressuring, forcing the Rangers to scramble and Shesterkin to stay sharp. Although each team had opportunities to end the game in regulation, some of the game’s best chances belonged to Lafreniere, who missed the net on some favorable chances.
New York won the shots (31-22) and faceoff (60%-40%) battles, but each team went 0-for-3 on the powerplay, which didn’t factor into the outcome. Ultimately, this latest Rangers loss came down to the fact they gave two goals in under three minutes for the 21st time this season.
Rangers Notes
- Panarin has 17 road goals this season, ranking third in the NHL
- Fox had a goal and assist for his ninth multi-point game of the season
- Shesterkin is now 4-0-2 against the Sharks in his career
- Jimmy Vesey and Nick Bonino were each minus two on Tuesday
- Trocheck played 22:15, the third-highest total of all Rangers skaters behind Fox (23:51) and Lindgren (22:43)
The Rangers return home for a Friday night rematch against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights, who beat New York 5-1 last Thursday. The game starts at 7:00 pm ET.
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