Recap: Six Goal Third Period Complete Rangers Comeback

What started out as a typical preseason outing with the Islanders ended up becoming a classic comeback story for the Rangers who picked up five unanswered goals to secure their second win in just as many games. After a rather lackluster first two periods, the Rangers scored six goals in the third to walk away with a 6-4 win. Dressing many more NHL regulars, here’s how the team lined up for their first preseason meeting on Garden Ice for the 2024-25 season:

Kreider - Zibanejad - Smith

Berard - Trocheck - Lafrenière

Panarin - Chytil - Othmann

Edström - Leschyshyn - Rempe

Lindgren - Fox

Jones - Trouba

Harpur - Ruhwedel 

Shesterkin/Quick

1st Period:

The Rangers drew an early penalty and maintained some real fantastic possession with the 6-on-5 advantage. During which, Artemiy Panarin came quite close to converting as he ripped a beautiful one timer off the crossbar. As Scott Mayfield was sent to the penalty box for tripping Vincent Trocheck, the Rangers rolled out a power play unit of Chytil, Kreider, Zibanejad, Fox and Reilly Smith at the point to be followed by Panarin, Trocheck, Othmann, Lafrenière and Zac Jones. Both units had looks but not enough to crack the scoreboard as the score remained locked at zero. 

As the man advantage came to an end, Mat Barzal had a breakaway chance that Igor Shesterkin was able to extend a pad on to keep things scoreless. Shesterkin would shut down several more chances from Barzal as the period went on, showing no signs of any off season rust early on in this outing. 

About six minutes in, Mayfield would head back to the penalty box following a collision that unfortunately came at Filip Chytil’s expense. Just a truly gut wrenching moment as Chytil was struggling to get up on his own power after everything he went through last season. Ryan Lindgren was quick to his teammates' defense as he dropped the gloves with Mayfield which sent him off for the remainder of the period, racking up a total of 17 penalty minutes. 

Thankfully, Chytil would return to the Rangers bench towards the end of the first but a real scary sight in what’s not meant to be a serious matchup this early on. The Islanders did end up with a power play which gave guys like Adam Edström and Matt Rempe a chance on the penalty kill. Aside from one shot that rang off the crossbar, the Rangers were able to kill off the advantage with minimal worry. 

As the teams returned to even strength, Lafrenière fed Brett Berard a beautiful breakout pass that sent him in all along on Varlamov. Berard pulled off a deke so good he faked himself out and fumbled the puck but otherwise, had a great start to this one showing fans just how strong of a force he can be on the puck. 

With just under seven minutes to go, the Rangers were sent back to the penalty kill as Jacob Trouba caught Eetu Liukas with a late hit earning him an interference call. Another successful kill essentially wrapped up the period as the Islanders outshot the Rangers 9-7 in a scoreless first twenty.

2nd Period:

Well, it would be way less of an ideal start to the second period as the Rangers would quickly trail by a pair of goals. To make matters worse, it was noted that Lindgren who exited the game in the first period would not return as a result of an upper-body injury, seemingly a result of his scrap with Scott Mayfield. 

The first Islander goal came as a result of a turnover at the Rangers point that resulted in an odd-man rush Igor didn’t stand much of a chance on. Pretty passing play between Anthony Duclair and Barzal who would put the puck away to make it a 1-0 game. 40 seconds later, an offensive zone face-off win for the Isles ended up in the back of the net as a shot from Grant Hutton went through some traffic to make its way through Shesterkin, giving his team the 2-0 lead. 

Just over the midway mark, the teams switched goaltenders with Jonathan Quick coming in for Igor and 6”9 Henrik Tikkanen (no relation) coming in for Varlamov. Soon after, Adam Edström would get sent off for cross-checking as his hit on Hudson Fasching sent him crashing quick and hard into the boards. Kreider and Mika had a great opportunity for a shorthanded goal on an odd-man rush that just tickled the post and remained in Tikkanen’s possession. 

With just over four minutes to go, Mat Barzal rung a quick shot off the post on the rush that ever so slowly trickled past the goal line upon its landing to extend the Islanders lead 3-0. It may only be preseason, but Barzal was flying around the ice seemingly in midseason form. Wouldn’t be a great opening two stanzas by any means but Matt Rempe closed out the period with a solid scoring chance at the end of a shift that required a sharp stop from Tikkanen. Rempe was among the few standouts from the Blueshirts’ alongside Brett Berard and Zac Jones. At the end of two, shots were now 21-16 in favor of the Isles. 

3rd Period:

Just a few minutes into the third, Brennan Othmann entered the net area with a little too much aggression and knocked the stick out of Tikkanen’s hands. Not a great penalty to take as the young winger was sent off for slashing but another successful kill kept things moving. Not long after the teams returned to even strength, a great block from Zac Jones allowed for Edström to send him the go-ahead pass which sent the Rangers defender on a breakaway. Jones was able to pull off a sleek cut to his backhand to sneak the puck through the legs of Tikkanen, finally getting the Rangers on the scoreboard 3-1. 

Just about a minute later, a delayed penalty on a trip from Adam Fox gave the Islanders some 6-on-5 time. Despite Brennan Othmann looking like he touched the puck, play continued and Bo Horvat breezed past Ben Harpur to sneak a strong move by Quick to make it a 4-1 game. 

The Rangers headed back to the power play with roughly six and a half to go and a three goal deficit to try and overcome. A high wrist shot from Mika Zibanejad was blocked by Kreider which left him in some discomfort. On the bright side, Chytil was right there to cash in on the rebound to bring the Rangers within two, 4-2. 

With just over three minutes to go, the Rangers pulled Quick for the extra attacker. It took some settling in, but after settling into some solid possession, the Blueshirts finally found the back of the net to bring them within one. A rocket of a slap shot from Zac Jones at the point gave him his second of the night in what was becoming quite the highlight reel evening for the young defenseman trying to earn a full-time roster spot this upcoming season. 

After using their timeout, the Rangers got right back to work which led to a tic-tac-toe passing play to set up Chris Kreider for a quick finish to tie the game up 4-4. Great puck movement from Lafrenière and Trocheck to set him up right on the doorstep. 

The fact that they were able to erase a three goal deficit to tie the game up was exciting in itself but just over 40 seconds later, a shot from Jacob Trouba at the point deflected off the stick of Edström to give the Rangers the 5-4 lead. 

Kreider wrapped up what was an unexpected thriller of a preseason game as the Rangers came back from trailing 4-1 to pull out a 6-4 win. An outstanding night from Zac Jones with Matt Rempe and Adam Edström having solid showings as well. Berard and Othmann both showed plenty of positives but nothing otherworldly by any means.

While it ended up an exciting win for the Rangers, it was an unfortunate outing on the injury front. Chytil thankfully returned but on top of Lindgren leaving the game early, Panarin left the Rangers bench early in the third and did not return for the rest of the night. Hopefully both are more for precautionary reasons but it does appear to be a lower-body situation for Panarin.

The Rangers are back at it for Preseason game number three at the Garden on Thursday as they'll host the Boston Bruins for a rematch from Sunday.