While New York faces the blizzard, so do the Rangers.
On the same night when the team’s buyers decided to part ways with the team’s second highest paid defender Tony DeAngelo, the Rangers scored their third win of the season behind a power goal from the third period from Chris Kreider to defeat. the Penguins 3-1 Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers have scored just two goals in the third period and have not registered one in the last five games. Kreider breaks the line at 11:10 from the final frame with a forward from a lightning shot from Adam Fox at the top of the zone.
Artemi Panarin also opted for an assurance with a second left on the clock, in addition to two assistants, to complete a three-point performance. While Rangers goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin scored his second win of the season, he fired 25 of the 26 shots he faced, including nine saves in the final 20 minutes to secure the win.
General manager Jeff Gorton said before the game that the team’s focus should be on winning, and the Rangers went out and plowed through a Penguins team with which they had lost in their previous three games against them.
“I just can not say how proud I am of our group,” head coach David Quinn said after the win. “It was a very difficult 24, 36 hours and the way we played so well together.”
Aside from not being without DeAngelo, the Rangers lost Kaapo Kakko to the COVID-19 protocol list and they recalled Jonny Brodzinski of AHL Hartford for his first game in a Rangers uniform. Anthony Bitetto, who was with the team’s taxi group to start the season, also replaced DeAngelo for his debut in Rangers.
To put further pressure on the Rangers’ already exhausted series, defender Brendan Smith clashed with Brandon Tanev for the first time at 17:12 and went straight to the locker room, where he was left with a torso injury.
The Rangers had to roll the rest of the night with five defenders.
Whether it was the combined inexperience of the lineup or the incredible strength of the penguins to drive the shooter, the Rangers took a string of penalties throughout the course of the game. They started the second and third periods with the penalty death due to offenses in the last two minutes of each frame.
Julian Gauthier, who has not played against the Devils since January 19, was called upon to hold minutes after the Rangers took a 2-1 lead to force them to compete briefly for the sixth time in the game. . However, the Rangers ‘penalty kill unit was their strongest component and averted all six of the Penguins’ man advantages.
The Rangers have had one of their most competitive third periods so far this season, blocking seven shots and refusing to give the Penguins any time or space.
“The way we played that third period was really good for us, just to move forward and understand that we can win these games,” Fox said. “We have to play a certain way to do that.”
The Penguins have taken the lead for the third time in the last four games against the Rangers from the first period. Jason Zucker quickly took the shooter off the boards and caught Shesterkin far from the crease, filling it in for the 1-0 score at 9:05.
But the Rangers used a delayed Penguins penalty call with an extra skater on the ice later in the second as Kevin Rooney recorded his second goal in as many games.
“Listen, I know what our record is, we felt pretty good about a lot of things we did this year. I know it may sound, but we really did,” Quinn said. “We have to keep going and keep building. We have five of our last six points and we are hanging on. ”