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Rangers vs Sabres: Rangers Rebound With 2-1 Win Over Buffalo Sabres

After an pretty underwhelming performance against the Colorado Avalanche, the New York Rangers righted the ship this evening with a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. The Rangers held a pretty comfortable 2-0 lead throughout a majority of the game, before the Sabres late push in the third period. Buffalo appeared to tie the game with under a minute remaining, but it was later deemed offside after a review by the situation room. Alexandar Georgiev turned in another solid performance in the crease as he turned aside 36 shots on goal.

1st Period

Mika Zibanejad (5) - Artemiy Panarin (23) & Adam Fox (23) PPG - 4:48

Under five minutes into the game, the Rangers were handed an early power play opportunity with Mark Pysyk heading off for tripping. New York was able to capitalize just 17 seconds into the man-advantage as Mika Zibanejad broke his scoring drought. Artemiy Panarin did a lot of the work at the top of the circle to draw players in, and quickly attempted a cross-ice pass. The puck took a fortunate bounce off of a defenseman and deflected back to the near post where Mika Zibanejad was waiting. Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen was unable to react to the change in direction, and Zibanejad picked up his fifth of the season.

2nd Period

Alexis Lafreniere (6) - Adam Fox (24) & Filip Chytil (4) - 9:47

Just prior to the halfway mark of the game, the Rangers found a way to double up their lead courtesy of Alexis Lafreniere. The Rangers had actually entered the zone at a 3-on-4 disadvantage, but Adam Fox worked his magic and found a way to transition it into a scoring opportunity. Rather than trying to force a difficult pass, Fox put a hard, low shot on goal that generated a rebound at the top of the crease. Alexis Lafreniere was crashing the net hard and was able to shovel the loose puck into the empty net after breaking coverage on his defender.

3rd Period

Brett Murray (2) - Mark Pysyk (5) & Kyle Okposo (12) - 14:37

With just over five minutes remaining in regulation time, the Sabres made things interesting as Brett Murray brought Buffalo back within a goal. This was the Rangers’ first mistake of the evening as they left a soft spot in the high slot, and Brett Murray slipped into the open ice. Alexandar Georgiev actually made an incredible save on the first shot attempt, but didn’t get much help on the rebound in front of the net.

The Rangers caught a huge break with under a minute remaining in the game as the Sabres appeared to score, and it was confirmed by video replay. However, prior to entering the zone the Sabres were actually offside and that situation room in Toronto must have came across it while reviewing the goal. Thankfully the goal was waived off the Rangers were able to kill off the remaining time on the clock without another hiccup. After righting their wrongs from Wednesday night, the Rangers will have a scheduled off day tomorrow before returning to action on Sunday night against the Nashville Predators.

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