Rangers vs Wild: Rangers Tie it Late, Score Early in Overtime Against Minnesota

After their miraculous comeback against the Montreal Canadiens, the New York Rangers pulled off a smaller scale come-from-behind win against the Minnesota Wild this evening. The Rangers were down late in the third after a snipe from Ryan Donato, but Chris Kreider tied up the game with under three minutes to play. Then, just 32 seconds into overtime, Tony DeAngelo broke free in the middle of the ice and beat Alex Stalock to pick up another two points.

Henrik Lundqvist finally picked up win number 455 and now sits alone as the fifth all-time leader in wins by a goaltender. Lundqvist is just 29 wins behind Ed Belfour for fourth all time, and that milestone is certainly within reach.

Here is tonight’s goal breakdown.

1st Period

Brady Skjei (3) - Tony DeAngelo (10) & Artemiy Panarin (16) - 14:50 1st Period

Fueled by their recent comeback, the Rangers were the better team to start this game and were rewarded with the opening goal at the 14:40 mark. Brady Skjei made an excellent head fake at the blue line to draw a player in, and then immediately burst into the open lane that was created. Skjei absolutely wired a wrist shot past Alex Stalock’s left shoulder and gave the Rangers an early lead in this game.

2nd Period

Zach Parise (9) - Kevin Fiala (5) & Jared Spurgeon (10) - 17:11 2nd Period

The Rangers did a great job of limiting Minnesota’s attack throughout most of the game, but a missed assignment late in the second period tied up the game. Kevin Fiala was able to send a beautiful cross-ice feed over to Zach Parise on the far post and Parise tapped home the tying goal. New York was caught puck watching, and it didn’t take long for the puck to end up in the back of their net.

3rd Period

Ryan Donato (2) - Ryan Hartman (3) - 10:00 3rd Period

Unfortunately for the Rangers, Minnesota hung around long enough in this game and the Rangers lack of goals came back to haunt them. Right at the halfway mark of the third period, Ryan Donato capitalized on a neutral zone turnover and burned the Rangers coming into the zone. Donato was able to step around a sliding Brady Skjei, and snapped a quick wrist shot in behind Henrik Lundqvist.

Chris Kreider (6) PPG - Artemiy Panarin (17) & Adam Fox (9) - 17:10 3rd Period

Despite giving up the late go-ahead goal, the Rangers never panicked and were able to knot up the game with under three minutes to play. Artemiy Panarin created the goal with an attempted centering feed, and caught a little puck luck as it deflected in on net. Chris Kreider was able to locate the loose puck and shoveled it into the back of net to tie up the game at 2-2.

Overtime

Tony DeAngelo (7) - Artemi Panarin (18) & Ryan Strome (16) - 0:32 Overtime

Ryan Strome won the opening faceoff of overtime, and the Rangers were able to make quick work of Minnesota off of a single rush. Tony DeAngelo did an excellent job of looking off Artemiy Panarin at the blue line, and the slight glance over drew two defenders out to Panarin. DeAngelo immediately curled off of the two players and bolted down the middle of the ice with a wide open shooting lane. A perfectly placed shot in the bottom left corner of the net sent Minnesota packing, and DeAngelo was credited with the game winning goal.

Another come-from-behind makes it two wins in a row for the Rangers, who have found ways to pick up points. Following another eventful victory, the Rangers will have a scheduled off day tomorrow before Tuesday night’s matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes.