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Rangers vs Stars: Rangers Rebound With Huge 7-4 Win Over Dallas Stars

The New York Rangers responded this evening with a huge 7-4 win over the Dallas Stars, and closed out the road trip with two huge points. Artemiy Panarin returned to form tonight as he registered a goal, and four assists en route to the win. Igor Shesterkin struggled early on in the game after allowing a goal on the first shot of the game, but settled in after the Rangers followed him up with a four goal first period.

1st Period

After getting their doors blown off last game in St. Louis, the Rangers needed a better start in this game to grab the early momentum. However, that wound up working in the opposite direction as Dallas jumped out to an early lead just 49 seconds after the opening faceoff. Esa Lindell was able to surprise Igor Shesterkin with a quick backhander from just above the goal line, and sailed a shot over his shoulder. Shesterkin didn’t even really react to the shot, and it appeared as if he expected the shot to miss the net over the top.

Dallas used the early goal to build momentum of their own, and answered again just  4:04 later as Tyler Seguin was left alone in front of the net. A great setup by Esa Lindell found Joel Kiviranta open on the far side of the ice, and he stepped into a quick one-timer chance after receiving the pass. Tyler Seguin was in perfect position to get his stick on the puck, and slipped the puck under the right elbow of Shesterkin to suddenly make it a 2-0 game.

Then, the Rangers decided it was time to wake up.

Greg McKegg opened the scoring for the Rangers a little over five minutes after falling behind by a pair of goals. K’Andre Miller’s point shot wound up deflecting off of McKegg’s right leg and flew past Jake Oettinger. The goal clearly gave the Rangers some life, and they slowly started to take back control of the game, and were rewarded with a power play for their efforts. Almost immediately, Mika Zibanejad absolutely hammered a one-timer from the top of the right circle, and beat Oettinger clean on the blocker side.

As if the two-goal comeback was good enough, the Rangers added two more insurance markers before the end of the period. Adam Fox picked up the third goal of the night after wandering to the front of the net on a cycle play, and deflected Jacob Trouba’s slap shot through Oettinger’s legs. Then 36 seconds later, it was Artemiy Panarin smoking a wrist shot from an off-angle, and beat Oettinger yet again to the blocker side.

2nd Period

Both teams appeared to settle into their defensive games after a crazy first period that results in six total goals scored. However, the Dallas Stars were able to fight back within a goal after Jason Robertson picked up his 30th goal of the season. The power play was a result of Ryan Lindgren taking down Alexander Radulov in front of the goal, and Dallas answered just as the penalty was expiring. The initial point shot by John Klingberg hit Robertson in the glove, and the puck rolled over the goal line after the deflection.

The Rangers didn’t let the goal effect them, and with under two minutes remaining in the period, they restored their two-goal lead. A sneaky wraparound by Patrik Nemeth caught Jake Oettinger off guard, and he beat the goaltender to the right post. Oettinger was still partially looking over his shoulder as the shot came in on goal, and it rolled into the net after skipping up behind his back.

3rd Period

Heading into the third period, the Rangers were looking to simply close out this game and close out the road trip with two points. Joe Pavelski made things interesting just before the halfway mark of the third period, and he deflected home his 23rd goal of the season. Pavelski was able to open up his stick to get into the shooting lane, and deflected Roope Hintz’s shot back against Igor Shesterkin’s momentum.

The Rangers needed a response with the Stars flying and the home crowd buzzing in anticipation. Barclay Goodrow provided exactly that after beating John Klingberg to a loose puck off of a great chip pass by Filip Chytil. Goodrow picked up the puck in stride, and snapped a heavy wrist shot through the legs of Jake Oettinger to restore the Rangers two-goal lead. Ryan Strome would close out the third period with an empty net goal to secure the two points in Dallas.

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