Recap: Zibanejad's 300th Goal Sparks Rangers 3-2 Win in Buffalo

Must win, can’t lose, these sayings often get tossed around when it comes to crucial hockey games. Although for the Rangers, both of those statements were true heading into tonight’s outing. 2-8 in their last ten, hanging on to a wild card spot for dear life, this team needed to come out with urgency and find a way to pick up two points on the road to get things back on track. For the Sabres who are dealing with their own struggles, this game was equally as important which meant it wouldn’t be an easy one. It surely wasn't, especially in the final minutes but they took care of business and secured the win.

1st Period:

Less than an ideal start as 20 seconds into the game, Mika Zibanejad was called for tripping Jordan Greenway in the defensive zone. Luckily for the Rangers, they have the tendency to thrive on the penalty kill and led by Reilly Smith, they did a good job of fighting off the advantage. Zibanejad came out of the box with a little bit of a more noticeable jump which was encouraging to see as he helped generate a couple of early scoring chances. 

Certainly leading the charge through the start of the game, the Rangers had the bulk of the chances with Filip Chytil coming close to converting on a strong rush. About five minutes after the teams returned to even strength, the Sabres took their first penalty of the night as Connor Clifton was sent off for interfering with Adam Edström. Right off the faceoff a great effort from Adam Fox kept the puck in the zone. Panarin then found Mika Zibanejad wide open for a perfect chance to walk in a clean shot that was destined for the back of the net, 1-o game.

It can’t be overstated just how big of a goal that was, both for Zibanejad and the Rangers. This team desperately needed to score first and no one on this team needed a goal more than 93. To top it all off, it came as the 300th goal of his career which is a huge milestone.  

Nearing the midway point of the period, K’Andre Miller made a great play at the blue line to poke the puck free and take it in on a rush chance for a quick shot that gave Ukka-Pekka Luukonen a little trouble. A few minutes later, an outstanding rush from Sam Carrick resulted in him pulling off a beautiful cut forward with the puck to try and sneak a shot but ended up getting tripped by Ryan Johnson to send the Rangers back to the power play. 

No dice on power play attempt two as they continued to move the puck well but couldn’t get enough quality pucks on net. With under five minutes to go, a lengthy shift from the Panarin line generated a couple of big chances, one of which nearly ended up in the back of the net but surely would have been called off for a distinct kicking motion. 

By far one of the better periods we’ve seen from the Rangers in quite some time. Shots on goal were 12-7 in favor of the Rangers who were significantly out-hitting the Sabres 14-2. That, along with the pace they established as a result was the difference maker in coming out of this period with the lead, the key factor would be them keeping it up. 

2nd Period:

There was no shortage of chances despite a slightly slower start in what became a lower event second period. The Rangers had a couple of looks early on before Alex Tuch had a breakaway chance for the Sabres about four minutes in. At first glance, it looked as if the shot went just wide but Shesterkin actually got a piece of it with the glove to help hold onto the Rangers lead. 

Big saves would certainly become a storyline in this one as the Rangers should have been up by a lot more than just one with the amount of chances they had. A good example came on this chance from Chris Kreider on a one-timer in the slot that was answered with a massive glove save from Luukkonen. Again, a great play by Mika to feed him the pass to set up the chance. 

Things opened up shortly after with both team’s seeing chances on potential odd-man rushes. Alexis Lafreniere made a great defensive play to send Panarin the other way but wouldn’t get enough going off the rush to find the back of the net. With under six minutes to go in the second, Greenway got his stick caught up with Lindgren’s skates which sent him off for tripping and gave the Rangers their third power play of the night. 

Another power play came and went without building off their earlier success. With three minutes to go, Brett Berard did a great job of forcing a turnover to create a chance for Carrick. This got a little chippy after Ryan Lindgren was taken down in front of the Rangers net which preceded a slight shoving match. On the following shift, Lindgren hit him extra hard into the boards which earned him a holding call to leave the Rangers on a penalty kill for the remainder of the period. 

Shots at the end of two were 24-16 in favor of the Rangers. Continued to be a much better outing for the Rangers who were winning the majority of the face-offs, leading in high danger chances and doing a better job of defending in their own end. 

3rd Period:

With a little bit of time still on the man advantage, Buffalo got right back to work and it wasn’t long before Shesterkin was flashing the leather with a big glove save of his own. The Sabres lingered in the Rangers zone on the shifts that followed, breaking a strap on Shesterkin’s helmet on a chance as play continued. Once Shesterkin finally froze the puck, he gave a hard shove to Buffalo’s Zach Benson who was pestering the crease as he had been all night. 

Soon after, the Rangers were back to the power play as Ryan Johnson tripped up Brett Berard who was quietly having a really strong game. The Rangers did give up another potential breakaway that Connor Clifton ripped off the post. The Sabres were getting a ton of breaks on the penalty kill including a chance after Zac Jones’ stick broke as he looked to get a shot off the point. However, a strong back check allowed for him to reposition and make a great play without a stick. 

This wrapped up a power play that did more harm than good for the Rangers who really didn’t spend much time in the offensive zone establishing puck possession. This sparked some energy for Buffalo who nearly had a bounce go there way as Shesterkin fumbled a loose puck in his own crease while trying to freeze the play. 

Nearing the ten minute mark, Nicolas Aube-Kubel caught Trocheck up high with a hit which rightfully angered the Rangers’ forward. After a couple cross-checks back to him, the two properly dropped the gloves but ended pretty quickly as Trocheck lost his footing. 

Following the excitement of the scrap, it was officially announced that K’Andre Miller would not return as he was dealing with an upper-body situation. Miller was missing from the Rangers bench for the entirety of the third and hadn’t seen much ice time as a result. 

With six and a half to go yet another great entry off the rush from Sam Carrick dropped the puck back to Fox who let a shot go that created a funky bounce off some traffic in front. Reilly Smith was right there in the dirty areas to bank the loose puck home to give the Rangers some critical insurance to their one goal lead. 

Following a TV-timeout with five minutes to go a frantic chance in front nearly ended up in the back of the net and soon enough, it was Owen Power ripping a shot off the post and in, 2-1. 

This made for a stressful end to regulation as with two and a half to go, the Sabres utilized their timeout and pulled UPL for the extra attacker. After a couple of quick icing’s from the Rangers, Adam Fox finally found the back of the net for his first goal of the season as he yard sailed the puck off the face-off to make it a 3-1 game. 

The Sabres pulled the goalie again as they still had a minute-45 to go and more icings from the Rangers really dragged this thing out. Unable to clear the puck out of their own end cleanly, Tage Thompson let an absolute rocket of a one-timer go off the post and in to make it a 3-2 game adding more gray hairs to the heads of this fan base at large. Finally catching a break, the Sabres were called for icing with four seconds to go which secured a slightly painful but much needed win. 

Still the furthest thing from perfect as their lack of 5-v-5 production was creeping through once again. Nearly giving up the lead twice in the final minutes doesn’t make you feel great either but a win is a win is a win and the Rangers are on to the next one. Final shots on goal tally was 31-28 Buffalo. The Rangers are back at it at the Garden Saturday Afternoon as they’ll host the LA Kings before heading back out on the road for a three game trip.