Rangers vs Ducks: Kevin Hayes Ends Rangers’ Slide with Late Shorthanded Goal
After losing three consecutive games, the New York Rangers finally got back into the win column this evening with a huge win over the Anaheim Ducks. It was by no means a pretty win, but the Rangers kept with it despite being down all game, and came up with three goals in the third period. Kevin Hayes extended his point total to 10 points in the last five games as he continues to provide scoring for the Rangers night in and night out. Here is tonight’s goal breakdown.
1-0 Ducks
Pontus Aberg (11) - Assists: Ryan Getzlaf (20) & Ondrej Kase (7)
With the Ducks deploying a pretty defensive minded game plan, they were able to keep the Rangers off of the scoreboard for quite a while. It made for some relatively boring hockey to watch, and along with that came a fortunate bounce. Late in the second period, Ondrej Kase attempted to center a pass out to the front of the net, but the puck wound up deflecting off of Mika Zibanejad’s skate. Alexandar Georgiev was caught off guard with the quick deflection and the puck slipped between his legs.
1-1 Tie
Vladislav Namestnikov (4) - Assists: Brett Howden (10) & Jimmy Vesey (9)
It took the Rangers until the final ten minutes of the third period to find the tying goal, and it certainly was a well earned goal. Despite being held to 10 shots through two periods, the Rangers continued to fight through the Ducks’ stingy defense and were eventually rewarded. Brett Howden created this entire goal with a clean zone entry and quickly found Namesnikov cutting to the net in a shooting lane. Namesnikov was able to beat Chad Johnson just over the pad, and tied the game for the Rangers late in the third period.
2-1 Rangers
Kevin Hayes (9) - Assists: Vladislav Namestnikov (9)
This goal was poetic justice at its finest, because just prior to the goal, the Rangers were called for a pretty tacky goaltender interference penalty. Filip Chytil was pushed into Chad Johnson, and showed signs of stopping before running out of space in front of the crease. The Rangers followed that up with a perfect penalty kill, and eventually the goal at the end of the penalty kill by Kevin Hayes. Vladislav Namestnikov did an excellent job of sending Hayes in with a stretch pass, and Hayes finished it off with a fortunate bounce that slipped in behind Chad Johnson.
3-1 Rangers
Filip Chytil (6) - Assists: Vladislav Namestnikov (10) & Mika Zibanejad (19)
After stunning the Ducks with a shorthanded goal, Filip Chytil exited the penalty box and immediately scored on the empty net to ice the game for the Rangers.
Following tonight’s impressive victory, the Rangers will have another extended three day break before returning to action on Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
