Recap: Rangers Make It Three In A Row with 4-3 Win in Vancouver

The Rangers kicked off their Western Canada portion of the road trip with their first meeting with the Vancouver Canucks this season. Looking to extend their win streak coming off a 2-0 win in Seattle a couple of nights prior, the Rangers were able to do so despite giving up an early goal in the first minute of play. Defensive hiccups aside, the Rangers played a much better all around game with all four lines clicking. Let’s break it all down. 

1st Period:

The Rangers once again got off on the wrong foot here as just 34 seconds in, Quinn Hughes completely danced around Jacob Trouba and snuck a backhander through Igor Shesterkin to make it a 1-0 so ealy the line combinations hadn’t even finished rolling through yet. Just a complete defensive collapse on the first shift as you had three players watching a board battle and Trouba again defaulting to dropping down to the ice in an attempt to break up a play just to get exposed by one of the best defensemen in the league. 

The slow starts have certainly been a problem for the Rangers this season and giving up an early goal has become a noticeably negative effect from that. So much so that the Rangers have allowed a total of eight goals within the first four minutes of a game across their 17 games played thus far. 

Thankfully, the Rangers were able to get the goal right back as K’Andre Miller let a shot go from the point right off an offensive zone face-off win just two minutes later that took a redirect off of Mika Zibanejad, tying the game up 1-1. 

The pace to this game really picked up from there as the team’s exchanged chances either way with Mika Zibanejad’s line in particular looking to have a bit of an extra jolt in their stride after picking up the tying goal. Nearing the midway point of the opening period, the Canucks took the first penalty of the night as Dakota Joshua was called for hooking against Adam Fox. 

The Rangers had some quality looks with the man advantage, including a behind-the-legs chance in front from Chris Kreider but Vancouver held them off for the entire two minutes to keep things tied at one. Things slowed down a bit from there with the Rangers continuing to find chances. With about five and a half to go, Will Cuylle was given a go ahead pass from Kaapo Kakko and beat Hughes who was hanging high in the neutral zone to come in all alone on Artur Silovs. An absolute laser of a wrist shot from Cuylle who continues to be such an impressive player for this Rangers team. 

We continue to praise Will Cuylle for how good he’s been to start the season and the same could be said for Filip Chytil but Kaapo Kakko is just as deserving for some flowers as he is quietly off to a significant improvement in terms of point production this season. 

With just over two minutes to go in the first, Vancouver tied the game back up as Kiefer Sherwood had time and space on the Rangers defensemen and let a quick shot go to beat Shesterkin off a nice pass from Elias Pettersson, 2-2 game late in the period. The Rangers would close out the period short handed as Sam Carrick got his stick up high on Danton Heinen to give Vancouver a chance on the power play. 

After the first twenty, the Rangers were out-shooting the Canucks 14-9, leading in both shot attempts 28-14 as well as high danger chances 4-3. The Rangers were being out-hit 9-5 but were up in the face-off circle winning 62% of the draws. A solid period from the Rangers but goals at the start and end of the period certainly came as less than ideal. 

2nd Period:

The Rangers killed off the rest of Vancouver’s power play to start the second which brought the team’s back to even strength. However just a few minutes later, the Rangers would go back to the power play as Nils Hoglander was called for interference against Jimmy Vesey. The Rangers had a great chance to convert as Silovs lost both his stick and blocker which required him having to home up with a key save without a bare hand exposed. 

The second power play unit followed things up with a strong shift but again, the Rangers were kept off the board with the man advantage. As the team’s returned to even strength, it was a bit of a chaotic shift as Sam Carrick laid a rough hit in the corner which led to Sherwood challenging him to a fight that wouldn’t happen. As play went the other way, Braden Schneider made contact to the head of Pettersson on a reverse hit which earned him two minutes in the box for an illegal check to the head. Kind of a rare situation where a minor penalty is a result of that. 

The Rangers had another strong effort on the penalty kill and as the team’s returned to even strength, a great pass from Jonny Brodzinski found Will Cuylle who fired it towards the slot. The puck then ended up on the stick of Kaapo Kakko who fired it home to make it a 3-2 game nearing the midway point of the night. 

The lead wouldn’t hold for long as roughly five minutes later, Conor Garland who always seems to show up against the Rangers, beat Shesterkin with a quick shot on the rush that may have gone through a screen, tying the game back up now 3-3. An increasingly tough night for the Trouba-Lindgren pair who was on the ice for all three goals against. 

With five minutes to go in the second, the Rangers were set to be short handed as Zac Jones was called for roughing after a big hit on Garland. However as the play went the other way, Vincent Trocheck took an help to the face from Filip Hronek which negated Vancouver’s upcoming power play, bringing play to two minutes of 4-on-4 hockey. Both sides would get their looks but nothing too pressing as the period would wind down from there. 

Shots after 40 minutes were now 25-17 in favor of the Rangers who continued to lead in high danger chances 7-5. That third line continued to be a bright spot as they led the charge in generating offense. Interestingly enough, Kaapo Kakko was also taking more face-offs, going 3-for-4 throughout the period. One of my first thoughts when Brodzinski replaced Chytil in the lineup was the fact that the Rangers were going to be operating with four right-handed centers so it definitely helps to have Kakko (a lefty) capable of stepping in to take some draws as needed. 

3rd Period:

Alexis Lafrenière was off to a noticeable start in the third period as he had a great shift with a hungry forecheck on Quinn Hughes nearly stripping him of the puck for a breakaway chance. He would later get that proper breakaway chance about five minutes in but was turned away by a big save from Silovs. Meanwhile, Shesterkin was disheveled after taking a shot from Sherwood up high that left him checking his teeth during a stoppage of play. 

The pace of the game slowed down significantly as there was a surplus of play stoppages throughout the middle parts of the third period. Finally, just over the midway point of the period, an outstanding passing play that started from a good takeaway from Mika Zibanejad found Reilly Smith in the slot who dished it right ahead to a wide open Chris Kreider who beat Silovs with a clean shot. 4-3 Rangers. 

Vincent Trocheck would send the Rangers back to the penalty kill as he was called for high-sticking Conor Garland. Trocheck strongly disagreed with the goal but the Rangers were successful in killing off the man advantage once again. As time continued to tick, the Canucks were hesitant but finally pulled Arturs Siloves for the extra attacker with just under two minutes to go in the game. They wouldn't find the empty net but the Rangers held on and skated away with a huge 4-3 win.

Still not a perfect showing but a much better one as the Rangers extend their win streak to three going 2-for-2 so far on their West Coast road trip. Final shots on goal tally for the night was 33-24 New York. They'll continue their trek through Western Canada as they take on the Calgary Flames at 9pm Thursday Night where Filip Chytil is expected to join the team.