Recap: Rangers Get Right But Lose Chytil In 3-2 Win Over Sharks

The Rangers were in desperate need of a "get right" game and while it wouldn't come easy, they managed to skate away with a regulation win to help get back on track. There was plenty of good to come from this outing including Mika Zibanejad finding the back of the net again and the old lines proving they belong together, but there was one major negative to come as the attention now shifts to the status of Filip Chytil who left the game early after a nasty collision with K'Andre Miller.

1st Period:

Among many of the growing problems with this Rangers team has been their bad starts. After two minutes of San Jose maintaining possession in the Rangers end of the ice, their next zone entry would result in the first goal of the game. A shot from Timothy Liljegren at the point took the craziest redirect off of Jimmy Vesey that sailed up and over traffic in front, right into the back of the net as Igor Shesterkin didn’t see the puck at all, 1-0 Sharks. 

Certainly an “unlucky” goal to give up but this Rangers team still wasn’t doing themselves any favors. Through the first half of the opening period the Sharks continued to control the pace of the game, out-shooting the Rangers 7-3. A continued lack of offense, missed passes and lack of urgency, the team’s struggles were becoming more and more evident. 

Some more exciting action with about eight minutes to go as Reilly Smith had a good scoring chance on a 3-on-2 with Zibanejad and Kreider after Mario Ferraro hit one of Shesterkin’s posts. This became the start of some signs of life from the Rangers as each line began generating some offense in the shifts that followed. The tide would turn again as the Sharks rang another shot off a post as Carl Grunstrom hit the crossbar on a 3-on-2 chance with close to a minute left in the period. 

A pretty uninspiring and uneventful opening period as the Rangers trailed by one after being out-shot 9-7 by a bottom of the standings team fresh off of winning the entry-draft lottery. Shots attempts were tied at 18 with the Rangers seeing the only two high danger chances of the period.

2nd Period:

The Rangers kicked off the second with a good shift from the Zibanejad line as Chris Kreider laid a big hit which led to Zac Jones ripping a shot off the post. Unfortunately that shift ended with Jones taking the first penalty of the night as he was called for holding Luke Kunin at the other end of the ice. However just four seconds into the power play chance, Barclay Goodrow was called for interfering with Ryan Lindgren in front of the net which set the team’s up for two minutes of 4-on-4 play. 

They almost made it but with 27 seconds left on the 4-on-4, Braden Schneider was called for holding as he took down Ty Dellandrea in front of the Rangers net. Penalties galore but not much would come from any of it as the score remained the same with minimal chances. There was a small little scrum in front of the Rangers net after all the penalties ended but there was still a noticeable lack of fire from just about everyone through the first half of the game.

With just over eight minutes to go in the second, Adadm Fox had all the time and space in the world to cut towards the slot to let a hard wrist shot go. This set up a perfect rebound right at the door step for Mika Zibanejad, who needed a goal more than anyone, to put the puck home tying the game up 1-1. 

For a brief moment in time, there was life in the building and the Rangers were buzzing but that came to a hard stop as K’Andre Miller collided with Filip Chytil. This was just moments after Chytil pulled off a clean spin-o-rama move on a rush attempt but the collision with Miller left him slow to get up and eventually headed off to the Rangers locker room. A scary moment as Chytil's injury history makes every bit of contact extra stressful.  

On the following shift, Jimmy Vesey tried to make a pass across the slot to Sam Carrick but ended up picking the puck back up as it wouldn’t make it through traffic. He then let a quick shot go that beat Mackenzie Blackwood to extend the Rangers lead 2-1.

Just 77 seconds later, after a sick toe drag through his legs, Reilly Smith dished it back toward Adam Fox who picked up the fleeting puck and let a shot go through traffic for what would have been his first of the season. Alas, Vincent Trocheck collided with Blackwood’s stick just before Fox let the shot go which resulted in the Sharks successfully challenging the play for goaltender interference.

Trocheck would certainly make up for it a couple of minutes later as Alexis Lafrenière made a brilliant stretch pass to Artemiy Panarin who danced his way into the offensive zone. Panarin then dishes it ahead to Trocheck who was cutting towards the net to properly get the Rangers back on the board to make it a 3-1 game. 

More good news on top of that, Filip Chytil returned to the bench and the Rangers closed out the period by drawing another penalty as William Eklund hooked Lafrenière. Able to maintain possession until the buzzer, the Rangers would get a full power play to start the third period heading into the second intermission with the two goal lead. A huge turnaround as the Zibanejad goal really sparked the Rangers offense. Shots on goal were now 23-15 New York in what felt like an entirely different game from the first half of play. 

3rd Period:

The Rangers got some looks on the power play, significantly from Mika Zibanejad who had a couple of quality chances but wouldn't be able to convert on the advantage. Former friend Barclay Goodrow picked up a short handed breakaway opportunity but missed the net just wide. The worst part of the start to the third period was Filip Chytil not returning to the bench after intermission. About halfway through the period it was announced he would not return to the game.

Barclay Goodrow continued to be on the hunt for his revenge goal against the team that waived him out of town but Igor Shesterkin was sharp throughout the third, shutting down a quality chance for his former teammate to bring the Sharks within one. The Rangers started to get some offensive mojo back towards the end of the third as they moved the puck around well at the other end of the ice.

With just under three minutes to go in the game, the Sharks pulled Blackwood for the extra attacker and used their timeout once they were able to get a whistle. Igor Shesterkin once again came so close to that long anticipated goalie goal but was collected by Macklin Celebrini.

With exactly a minute to go, Zibanejad was called for a tripping penalty to give the Sharks a chance with the 6-on-4 advantage. Some good pressure from the Sharks resulted in Fabian Zetterlund picking up a bouncing puck in front of the net to sneak it around Shesterkin to make it a 3-2 game. Enough to put some pressure on but not enough to bring them back in it. as the Rangers picked up an important win to take with them on the road.

Final shots on goal tally would be 35-27 in favor of the Rangers who picked up an important pair of points to take with them on the road. They're back at it Sunday as they'll kick off their Western Canada road trip with a visit with the Seattle Kraken at 9 pm eastern time.