Rangers Dominate, But Lose 3-2 In St. Louis
The New York Rangers absolutely dominated the St. Louis Blues tonight, but unfortunately, they were unable to find the game-tying goal in the third period. Just to give you an idea of how badly the Blues were dominated, their last shot of the game came around the 1:00 mark of the 2nd period. Carter Hutton was the main reason the Blues came away with two points, and stole the show in this one.
As strong of an ending as the Rangers had, the opening minute of this game wasn’t so great for the Rangers. After a failed keep in the offensive zone, the Blues quickly transitioned through the neutral zone and Colton Parayko found Vladimir Tarasenko on a breakaway. Henrik Lundqvist probably wanted that goal back, but to his defense, not many goalies are winning a 1-on-1 battle with Tarasenko.
About four minutes after the Blues opened the scoring, the newly dubbed “KZB” line knotted up the game on Chris Kreider’s second goal of the season. Dan Girardi’s point shot wound up generating a juicy rebound, and Kreider rifled a quick shot over the pad of Carter Hutton.
The Blues wound up taking the lead back late in the first period, after Nick Holden failed to clear the crease and Paul Stastny tapped home the loose puck. The Blues wound up doubling their lead early in the second period, after the Rangers failed to pick up Alex Pietrangelo cutting down on the power play, and made it a 3-1 game.
From that point on, the Rangers completely took over the game and pulled back within a goal just 30 seconds later. Mika Zibanejad finally picked up his first goal as a Ranger, as he beat Hutton with a sneaky backhand from inside the left circle, and slipped in on the shortside.
The Rangers had dozens upon dozens of opportunities to not only tie this game, but probably enough to go up by a pair of goals. They out-shot the Blues 15-0 just in the third period alone, but they were unable to find the tying goal. As frustrating as it was to lose that game, you can be happy with the fact that the Rangers completely dominated the game.
If the Rangers continue to play like moving forward, nine out of ten times, they will come away with two points. It’s safe to say that this forward group is the real deal, and if the Rangers can find a way to patch up their defensive holes, this is can be a very dangerous team.
The Rangers will head back to New York after their quick trip out West, and will have another opportunity to get back in the win column against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.