Sign in Subscribe
Front Page

Rangers vs Blues: Rangers Rally With Three Straight In Third Period

After dropping their previous two contests, the New York Rangers rebounded this evening with a hard fought 5-3 win over the St. Louis Blues. New York choked away a 2-0 lead in the second period after allowing three goals on consecutive shots, and found themselves down 3-2 heading into the third. The Rangers regrouped in between periods and came out absolutely flying in the third period to rattle off three unanswered goals.

1st Period

Alexis Lafrenière (13) - Adam Fox (44) - 8:55

Alexis Lafrenière continued his strong play after being placed on the top line, and he responded with his 13th goal of the year. Adam Fox’s point shot gave Ville Husso so trouble as it came in on goal, and he kicked the rebound right out in the high slot. Lafrenière initially started behind the net, but quickly transitioned out front after seeing the puck go back to the point. The puck landed right on Lafrenière’s tape, and he tapped slammed home the easy tap-in to give New York the lead.

2nd Period

Ryan Strome (12) - Artemiy Panarin (43) & Jacob Trouba (17) - 16:36

Late in the second period, the Rangers added onto their lead with Ryan Strome fooling Ville Husso from just above the goal line. Artemiy Panarin started the entire play with a great layoff pass down to Strome, who was transitioning out from behind the net. Husso wound up partially losing his post, and was caught in between after expecting the initial shot from Panarin. Strome was able to quick flip his wrists over and shoveled a quick shot under Husso’s right pad to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

Ryan O’Reilly (12) - Brandon Saad (13) & David Perrod (17) - 17:30

Just under a minute after the Rangers doubled up their lead, the Blues came storming back down the ice to pull back within a goal. An excellent passing sequence through the neutral zone caught the Rangers sitting back, and St. Louis made them pay on the scoreboard. David Perron’s overlap pass at the blue got the play started, and Brandon Saad finished it off with a crisp centering feed to the far side of the ice. Ryan O’Reilly beat two defenders to the post, and flipped the puck over Igor Shesterkin to make it a 2-1 game.

Ivan Barbashev (17) - Jordan Kyrou (29) - 18:37

Another minute after clawing back into the game, the Blues were able to tie the game with Ivan Barbashev flying down the left side of the ice. Jordan Kyrou caught the Rangers in transition once again with a quick outlet pass, and found Barbashev streaking down the left side boards. Barbarshev was able to catch the puck cleanly in stride, broke in on a partial breakaway, and snapped a shot over the left shoulder of Shesterkin.

David Perron (12) - Ryan O’Reilly (23) & Colton Parayko (16) - 19:44

With under a minute remaining in the second period, the Blues continued their onslaught and stunned the Rangers with a third consecutive goal. Ryan O’Reilly started the pressure off with puck control below the goal line, and found David Perron open up off to his left. Barclay Goodrow completely blew the coverage and never picked up Perron as he skated into a clear shooting lane. Perron’s one-timer beat Shesterkin up over the shoulder once again, the Blues took a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.

3rd Period

Patrik Nemeth (1) - Ryan Strome (27) & Dryden Hunt (7) - 7:27

The Rangers needed some type of response after choking away a 2-0 lead in a 2:14 span, and they came out on a mission in the third period. Following a failed initial scoring chance by Ryan Strome, the puck deflected off the side of the net and back out in the high slot. There was zero coverage from St. Louis up high, and Patrik Nemeth immediately fired a quick shot back towards the vicinity of the net. The puck took a slight deflection off of Ivan Barbashev in front, and slipped into the empty net to tie up the game at 3-3.

Chris Kreider (35) - Adam Fox (45) & Artemiy Panarin (44) - 11:40

If there’s one thing you don’t want to do as an opposing team, it’s giving the Rangers a power play late in the third period of a tie game. After whiffing on their first opportunity earlier in the game, the Rangers made sure to cash in this time around with a chance to pull back in the lead. Adam Fox elected to take a one-timer shot from just inside the blue line, and the shot somehow made it through the traffic in front of Ville Husso. However, it took one final deflection off of Chris Kreider’s stick before entering the net to put New York up by a goal once again.

Artemiy Panarin (15) - Adam Fox (46) - 18:08

With under two minutes remaining in regulation, the Blues yanked their goaltender for the extra attacker as they looked to find the tying goal. Even though we didn’t have any Igor Shesterkin attempts at goal, the Rangers were able to made quick work of the empty net, and Artemiy Panarin iced the game at the 18:08 mark.

It looked a little scary there for a moment at the end of the second period, but as expected, the comeback kids did it again in the third period. The Rangers didn’t let the three goals in a 2:14 span effect them heading into the third period, and they were able to grind out a gutsy regulation win. Following tonight’s win to snap the losing streak, the Rangers will have a scheduled day off tomorrow before returning to action on Friday night against the New Jersey Devils.

Read next