Recap: Rangers Pick Up Point in Home Opener OT Loss

Well, things started about as high as they could’ve this season with Game 1 on the road. However, the Rangers quickly reverted to their old ways in the home opener. Tendencies we know all too well as they pushed a game they realistically had little to no business winning to overtime just to fall short in the final minute.

But before we get into it, let’s quickly touch on one of the good vibe moments in the home opener. While Wes McCauley kind of stole the show in the worst way as the game progressed, he did kick it off with a nice acknowledgement to Sam Rosen who was calling his 40th and final home opener of his career. As Joe Micheletti mentioned on the broadcast, they would save the puck for Sam following the first whistle of the night which ended up coming rather quickly. 

1st Period:

Wouldn’t take long for the Rangers to fall behind in this one as they got off to a sloppy start, quickly allowing the first goal of the night. Less than four minutes in, Barrett Hayden took advantage of Jacob Trouba & Braden Schneider ending up on the same side of the ice as Clayton Keller found him at the doorstep to give Utah the early advantage 1-0. 

About five minutes later, the Rangers were able to bring things back to square one as a nice drop pass from Alexis Lafrenière set up Artemiy Panarin for his first of the season as he ripped a shot through a screen to make it  a 1-1 game.

Both goaltenders were strong throughout the rest of the period as Igor Shesterkin robbed Dylan Guenther of a Grade-A scoring chance and Connor Ingram added to Kaapo Kakko’s everlasting bad luck streak, shutting down an opportunity for him to find his first of the season. Outside of those scoring chances, it was a pretty low event period as the Rangers outshot Utah 8-6, leading the charge in both high danger chances and expected goals for. Utah on the other hand, was out-hitting the Rangers, winning more of the face-offs and seemingly playing with more urgency. 

2nd Period:

The second would go down as the most entertaining period of the night by a landslide. While it wouldn’t start in the Rangers favor as Jack McBain made it a 2-1 game less than two minutes in, the Rangers quickly showed some signs of life following the go ahead goal. 

A minor scrum involving the third line broke out not long after the goal which resulted in the first penalty of the night that sent Kevin Stenlund off for goaltender interference. That power play gave the Rangers a chance to tie things back up and sure enough, Artemiy Panarin picked up his second of the night on a quick shot that beat Connor Ingram up high, tying things up 2-2. 

The Rangers nearly had their first lead of the night but more significantly, Victor Mancini almost had his first goal of his NHL career as he let a shot go through traffic to beat Ingram. The goal was immediately called off as Matt Rempe was in front of Utah’s netminder and was believed to have interfered with him. Now, the Rangers challenged the call as Rempe really didn’t make much contact with Ingram but it didn’t sway the official's opinion. The call on the ice stood and the Rangers were now shorthanded. 

A tough blow for the Rangers as Rempe didn’t prohibit Ingram from making a play in the slightest but thankfully Utah was quick to take a penalty of their own as Ingram held up Kreider behind the net. The score remained locked at two throughout the 4-on-4 but just one minute later, Utah would regain the lead as Clayton Keller beat Shesterkin as a result of another defensive zone breakdown, this time from K’Andre Miller and Adam Fox. 

Again the two defenders ended up on the same side of the ice and Alex Kerfoot was able to find Keller all alone in front after stripping Miller of the puck behind the net. Since it’s only Game 2 we can call it growing pains of the new defense pairings but mindless mistakes for a team as good as the Rangers to be making nevertheless.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Utah extended the lead just a couple of minutes later as Kevin Stenlund found the back of the net on a weird angled shot that Shesterkin probably wishes he could’ve had back. 4-2 Hockey Club. 

The Rangers needed a fortunate bounce or something to get them back in this one and wouldn’t you know it, that’s exactly what happened. K’Andre Miller went to go send the puck into Utah’s zone and after a strange bounce off the boards, the puck found a wide opened net as Ingram left the crease to go play what he was anticipating to be a harmless loose puck. Back within one nearing the midway point of the evening.

Chaos ensued on the very next shift as Sam Carrick and Michael Kesserling decided to drop the gloves. As that was going down, Adam Edström, who was celebrating his 24th birthday, ended up going at it with Jack McBain and because that made him the third man in, that would put an early end to Edström’s night. Hard to believe that Matt Rempe was the only member of the fourth line that wasn’t involved in a scrap tonight. 

As if that wasn’t enough, the emotions picked back up two minutes later as Will Cuylle collided with Ingram for yet another goaltender interference call. Quite an egregious one here as Ingram was way out of the net attempting to make a play as Cuylle was already battling Mikhail Sergachev in a race for the puck. 

A high stick from Miller a minute later left the Rangers tasked with killing off a 5-on-3 advantage. While they were successful for one half of the power play, a nice set up from Nick Schmaltz found Guenther on the doorstep to extend their lead 5-3. 

With two minutes to go in the second, Braden Schneider finished on a terrific individual effort to sneak a shot short side to bring the Rangers back within one.

An eventful second to say the least as the score was now 5-4 Utah with shots 19-16 in favor of the Rangers after forty minutes of play. Still anyone’s game with the third period ahead.

3rd Period:

The Rangers were sent to the power play less than two minutes in as Ian Cole was called for hooking Artemiy Panarin. Unable to convert, the Rangers continued to trail as time was slowly but surely escaping them. It wasn’t until there was roughly seven minutes left when another solid shift from the third line resulted in Will Cuylle getting the last touch on an Adam Fox deflection to tie the game up at five. 

The following shift, Vincent Trocheck was called for hooking sending Utah back to the power play. Thankfully, the Rangers were able to kill it off and eventually, settled things into the first overtime of the season. Shots were 33-24 Rangers at the end of regulation. 

Overtime:

All things considered, the Rangers were lucky yet also unlucky to be here. They got the short end of the stick on some calls but Utah played with much more urgency to establish their lead early and often. Both teams saw chances in overtime with Shesterkin robbing Matias Marccelli and the Rangers missing some chances to put an end to things. That came to bite them in the rear as Clayton Keller found his second of the night on a backhander that went in and out so fast you almost didn’t realize it was a goal. 

First loss of the season but at least they got a point out of it. Not the best outing but certainly not the worst as Utah continues their hot streak now 3-0 to start the season. The Rangers will look to get back on track Monday Night as they host the Detroit Red Wings.