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Recap: Opportunistic Rangers Earn Extra Point Against Devils 4-3 (OT)

Look how happy he is!

The Rangers have been getting results lately, and looked to continue that trend against the Metro-leading Devils Monday night. It took another overtime to do it, but the Rangers maintained their winning ways.

The game started about as poorly as possible for the Rangers, as they conceded two goals before registering a shot on goal of their own. Nico Hischier struck first, getting a piece of a Jonas Siegenthaler shot following a face off win. The second came off a Jacob Trouba turnover in the slot. Jack Hughes picked his pocket and quickly moved the puck to Dawson Mercer, who ripped a shot past Shesterkin. The Rangers finally notched a shot on goal about eleven minutes into the period. Their play picked up a bit after that point, culminating with a goal by Chris Kreider, who buried a royal road pass from Vincent Trocheck on a two-on-one. In a reversal of fortunes, the Rangers went on to keep the Devils from earning a shot on goal for eleven minutes.

Even so, the uneven first period was enough for Gerard Gallant to start tinkering with lines again, reuniting the Kid Line and putting Zibanejad with Panarin and Goodrow. Midway through the second, the game kicked into high gear. Rangers had a strong powerplay, keeping the Devils hemmed in their zone for the full two minutes, but they failed to score. After the ensuing TV timeout, the Devils went up 3-1 on a slick move by Jack Hughes. Man, he’s fun to watch. Shortly thereafter, Hughes drew the first penalty shot of his career, but he lost control of the puck before he could shoot.

The refs gave the Rangers a gift with a soft interference call on Siegenthaler, and it helped the Rangers seize momentum. Vincent Trocheck capitalized on the powerplay with his tenth goal of the season. Seven seconds later, Kaapo Kakko knotted the game at three on a pretty passing play by Filip Chytil and K’Andre Miller.

And so for the fifteenth time this year, the Rangers entered the third period tied. The third period also ended tied, with not much to say for the time between. Both teams had trouble establishing themselves, and the period felt full of icings and turnovers at the blueline.

The Devils hogged the puck for the first two minutes of overtime, leading to a good opportunity to Damon Severson. But Shesterkin made the save to keep the Rangers alive. Moments later, Panarin fought his way into the offensive zone and left the puck for Filip Chytil, who ripped a perfect shot past Vanacek for the 4-3 win.

The Rangers extended their winning streak to a season high four games. Earlier in the season they were dominating the ice but losing, and lately they’ve been inconsistent but winning anyway. They failed to record a shot on goal for eleven minutes to start the game and only amassed five shots on goal in the third, but their offense was clicking in the middle chunk of the game. Still, I don’t want to be too negative; a four game win streak is a four game win streak. It’s just hard to say whether they can keep winning like this.

They’ll look to make it five games against the red hot Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday night.

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