Recap: Late Goal Forces Overtime Which Rangers Promptly Lose, 3-2

The Rangers took on the Blues Thursday night in Vladimir Tarasenko’s first game in St. Louis since being traded. Blues fans gave him a well-deserved standing ovation, and they got pretty much everything they could have wanted out the night. They honored a former franchise icon, saw him put up a few points, and still got to see their team win in overtime.

First Period:

Bleh. Neither team created a whole lot, though Halak did have to make a couple saves on shots from the homeplate area. The Rangers only took eight shot attempts, six of which were on net, and zero of which came from close.

Second Period:

The Rangers returned in the favor in the second, only conceded eight shot attempts, six of which were on net, but one of them went in the net. Alexey Toropchenko nabbed the puck from Artemiy Panarin in the offensive zone and was off the races. Vincent Trocheck backchecked as hard as one could ask, but Toropchenko got his shot off to put the Blues up 1-0.

Third Period:

The Rangers saved their best hockey for the third, as is their wont, and they tied the game on the powerplay. Twice.

Tarasenko tallied the first, after a shot-pass from Mika Zibanejad deflected away from Chris Kreider and landed on Tarasenko’s stick. The goal was his 18^th of the season and 8^th as a Ranger.

The Blues went ahead again when Torey Krug found Tyler Pitlick alone in front of the net. Like, really alone. Like, no one can hear you scream alone. He used that alone-time productively, and scored his seventh of the year.

But trailing late, the Rangers earned their second powerplay of the game when Mika Zibanejad danced around Justin Faulk and drew a slashing call. They pulled their goalie to create a six-on-four, and it didn’t take long for Vincent Trocheck to jam home the game-tying goal. Tarasenko contributed the primary assist, giving him two points in his homecoming game. But could he find another in overtime?

O.T.

Nope! K’Andre Miller took a bad route to the puck in the offensive zone, leaving Panarin and Trocheck to defend the rush from Brayden Schenn and Kasperi Kapanen. One royal-road pass later and the Blues came out victorious.

. . .

The Rangers certainly looked like they played yesterday. Going two-for-two on the powerplay is nice, as is the equal distribution of ice-time among defenders. Good for Tarasenko for getting on the board in St. Louis. Honestly, not a lot to say about this one.

Perhaps there will be more to say about their matchup in Columbus on Saturday night against the Blue Jackets.