Recap: Backcheck, Forecheck, Trocheck the Overtime Hero in Boston
Right back at it on the second half of a back-to-back, the Rangers shipped up to Boston for their second meeting of the season with the Bruins. After a historic night at the Garden where Chris Kreider scored two goals to tie and eventually pass Adam Graves for third on the all-time franchise goal leaders list, the Rangers would look to build off their 5-1 win over Anaheim last night in hopes to shake off their recent little slump. The Bruins were also on night two of a back-to-back with travel as they came off a 5-4 shootout win on Long Island last night, also looking to get back on a win streak of their own.
The last time these two team’s saw each other, the Rangers came out on top with a 7-4 statement win. Couple of changes to the Rangers lineup as K’Andre Miller would make his return to action after missing two games with a personal matter. Nick Bonino also slotted back into the lineup in place of Adam Edström after missing last night’s game with an illness.
1st Period:
A bit of a slow start from both team’s in what became quite the uneventful opening period. Through the first ten minutes of the game, shots on goal were few and far between with play slowly but surely going back and forth between either team’s zone. The Rangers best chance came from an Artemiy Panarin breakaway close to the midway point of the first that Jeremy Swayman was able to turn away. Momentum slightly picked up from there as the Bruins had a chance going the other way with it on a scramble in front of Igor Shesterkin that left him pretty far out of the crease but neither team was finding the back of the net.
With five minutes to go in the first, the Rangers really put on the pressure on a two minute shift in the Bruins zone. During which, they were able to draw the first penalty of the game as Matt Grzelcyk was sent off for tripping up Vincent Trocheck in the slot area. The Rangers would head to the power play where they got a handful of quality looks but wouldn’t capitalize.
In the final minute of the period, the Rangers took their first penalty of the night as K’Andre Miller was called for tripping Brad Marchand. With only 41 seconds to go, the Bruins weren’t able to get anything generated which led to the team’s going into the first intermission with a pair of goose eggs still intact on either side of the scoreboard. The Rangers had the advantage in shots on goal at 8-5 with both team’s getting power play time in an overall conservative start.
2nd Period:
The Bruins finished out their man advantage to start the period but much like how it started, time wasn’t on their side. However shortly after the team’s returned to even strength, Trent Frederic went hard to the net and found the puck in his skates which resulted in him pushing the puck in with his stick from up close in the crease.
Peter Laviolette opted to use his coach’s challenge on the play as it looked as though Frederic may have pushed the pad of Shesterkin with his stick in order to put the puck in the back of the net. As many may have expected, the challenge was unsuccessful which sent the Rangers right back to the penalty kill and left them trailing in the game 1-0.
The Rangers killed off the power play attempt but weren’t able to get involved in many other ways. They weren’t playing bad by any means but were still passing the puck a little too frequently and just couldn’t find a way to get one past the Bruins netminder. Around the midway point of the game, the Rangers headed back to the power play as David Pastrnak got the stick up high on Alexis Lafrenière. The man advantage wouldn’t be much of one as Chris Kreider took a mindless penalty 15 seconds in for holding the stick of Hampus Lindholm in front of the Bruins net.
The team’s would play 4-on-4 hockey for the next minute and a half but just thirty seconds after Kreider’s penalty, Jacob Trouba and Trent Frederic dropped the gloves for a rather weak fight. After one or two punches, Trouba lost his balance and the two players fell to the ice which resulted in the officials separating them.
Things got a bit ugly with under two minutes to go as David Pastrnak laid a cheapshot on Ryan Lindgren from behind. This left the Rangers defender shaken up and a scrum ensued with everyone else on the ice. An incredibly dangerous hit from Pastrnak as he made direct contact to the numbers of a defenseless Lindgren who was facing the boards with the puck on his stick.
Panarin went right after Pastrnak following the hit which led to the full scrum breaking out. The officials got the call right by assigning Pastrnak a five minute major for boarding accompanied by a game misconduct. However, they also gave Panarin a two minute roughing penalty which meant the team’s would skate four aside for two minutes before the Rangers could take advantage of the major penalty, only now for three minutes. The team’s were again rather conservative through the final two minutes of the second and would head to the second intermission with the score still 1-0 Boston. Shots were 19-16 in favor of the Rangers and with a big power play on the horizon, it was still anyone’s game for the taking.
3rd Period:
Ten seconds remained on the Panarin minor penalty to start the final period of regulation as the Rangers would look to take advantage of the slightly longer power play attempt. Again, the top power play unit continued to move the puck extremely well and got plenty of shots off but those three minutes came and went and the score remained 1-0 Boston. The good news however was that Ryan Lindgren in typical Ryan Lindgren fashion, was right back out there after heading off to the locker room for repairs at the end of the first.
A few minutes after the team’s returned to even strength, Adam Fox was sent off for tripping up Brad Marchand. The Bruins would have another crack at the power play but another solid showing from the Rangers penalty killers helped fight off those two minutes and kept them within one.
Just over the midway point of the third, Brandon Carlo shoved a puckless Vincent Trocheck down to the ice which earned him a deserving interference penalty. The Rangers hadn’t been able to score on the power play up to this point and with time running out, this would be as good a chance as they would get in this one to change the momentum.
Finally, the Rangers were able to capitalize as Mika Zibanejad set up Vincent Trocheck perfectly in the slot to let a quick shot go soaring past Jeremy Swayman to tie the game up at one with just over nine minutes to go in the game.
The Trocheck goal definitely gave his team some swagger as the Blueshirts were flying out there in the shifts that followed. The Rangers would go right back to the power play as Hampus Lindholm got tied up with Adam Fox in the Rangers zone and was called for high sticking. Rangers dominated play for those two minutes but wouldn’t find the back of the net. Momentum went the other way as the Bruins had a burst of energy in the Rangers zone that generated some chaos.
Play continued going back and forth in the final minutes of regulation but this one would inevitably require extra time in order to reach a decision. After sixty minutes of regulation played, the score was locked at 1-1 with the Rangers outshooting the Bruins 32-23.
Overtime
As puck dropped on 3-on-3 overtime, the Rangers were winning the puck possession game which usually plays a role in determining who will end up finding the back of the net first. The Rangers entered and re-entered the zone numerous times and after a couple cycles through,
Artemiy Panarin was able to cut down through the slot to slide a pass over to Vincent Trocheck. With plenty of net to shoot at, Trocheck was able to put the shot away for his second of the night to win the game for the Blueshirts 2-1.
Wasn’t a perfect night from the Rangers by any means but all things considered, they battle adversity, fought back in the score to win it in overtime, all of which after just playing back home the night prior. Defensively, they played a real solid game and still found plenty of offensive zone chances despite passing the puck a bit more than they likely should have. On top of everything, the team is apparently going through it as many other team’s in the league are with various bugs/viruses floating around this cold season.
A huge two points as the Rangers stay the course and will carry a pair of wins with them as they’ll cross the border for a rematch with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night. That and another back-to-back are all that stands between this team and the three day holiday break as the Rangers leapfrog the Bruins in the league standings yet again, holding strong to first place in the Metropolitan Division.