Recap: Gavrikov the Hero as Rangers Come From Behind to Beat Dallas 3-2 in OT

It was Garden of Dreams Night at the World’s Most Famous as the New York Rangers played hosts to the Dallas Stars. Looking to bounce back after an atrocious outing Saturday afternoon, the Rangers would be tasked to do so without both Adams as Fox and Edstrom were both out with injury. Despite Brennan Othmann getting the call up last night, Taylor Raddysh—whose status was up in the air due to personal reasons—was good to go and Conor Sheary would take the place of Edstrom on the fourth line. Here’s how the rest of the lines panned out for the Rangers. 

First Period

It wasn’t a great start for the Rangers but it was an even worse one for Dallas in the sense that just two minutes in, veteran forward Tyler Seguin went down with what looked like a gnarly knee injury. Seguin was in a great deal of discomfort and needed assistance getting off the ice. From that point on, the pace of play slowed down a bit and close to five minutes into the period, the Rangers were called for the first penalty of the night. It was Carson Soucy going off for cross-checking, requiring a strong outing from the penalty killing squad. 

It was a successful kill for the Rangers and Soucy wasted no time making up for the penalty. Just as the Rangers’ defenseman was coming out of the box, Conor Sheary moved the puck up ice which allowed Soucy to chip it over to Noah Laba. Laba ended up on a breakaway and opted for a simple wrist shot that trickled through Casey DeSmith. As the puck danced around the blue paint, Soucy broke hard to the net and was right there to tap in the loose puck. 1-0 Rangers. 

The lead wouldn’t last too long as the Stars would tie the game just a minute out from the midway point of the first. The Rangers weren’t able to clear the zone which allowed for Kyle Capobianco to get a shot off from the point. With plenty of traffic in front, the shot went right through everyone, including Igor Shesterkin to tie the game up 1-1. 

A few minutes later, the Rangers got their first power play of the night as Alex Petrovic got the stick up high on Jonny Brodzinski. Without Adam Fox in the picture, the Rangers opted for an all five forward variation for the top power play unit. With Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin at the points, the Rangers came up shotless throughout the man advantage and didn’t connect on much of anything in the offensive zone. 

With just under four minutes to go, the third line had an outstanding shift that nearly resulted in a goal. The play started with a big hit from Braden Schneider that helped the Rangers clear the zone. Brett Berard and Noah Laba then found themselves on a 2-on-1 and a great feed from Berard found Laba in the crease but the puck was rolling too much to get a clean shot off. After keeping the puck in the zone, Will Cuylle ended up with a point blank shot that DeSmith was able to handle. 

All in all, a strong start for the Rangers. They were skating stride for stride with the Stars and playing well in all areas of the ice. Shots after the opening twenty were tied at ten apiece with high danger chances also tied at three. Both teams came up empty handed on their one power play but the Rangers were credited with significantly more scoring chances 13-6. 

Second Period

Picking up where they left off, the Rangers came out with some energy as Vincent Trocheck ripped a backhander off the post early in the second period. They continued to generate some offense as Vladislav Gavrikov nearly regained the lead for his team off a nice feed from Alexis Lafrenière. Shortly after, the Stars got one of their best chances of the night as Will Borgen blew a tire resulting in a 3-on-1 chance for Dallas. 

Carson Soucy did a phenomenal job of reading the play, defending the passing lanes and forcing Mikko Rantanen to take the shot on a tough angle. Shesterkin was able to make an easy save to keep this thing tied at one. 

With about seven and a half to go in the period, the Rangers were sent back to the power play as Justin Hyrckowian got tied up with Laba and was called for interference. It was much of the same for the Rangers on the man advantage the second time around as the top unit couldn’t generate anything with the second unit being the only ones able to put pucks on net. 

Shortly after the teams returned to even strength, Soucy went back to the penalty box as he tripped up Rantanen right in the slot. Not only were the Rangers strong and successful again on the penalty kill, but they picked up some scoring chances as well as Will Cuylle set up Borgen at the doorstep on an odd man rush that required a big save from DeSmith. Cuyle would find Trocheck all alone in front of the net not long after. 

With 121 seconds to go in the period, Zibanejad did a good job of drawing another Dallas penalty as Oscar Back was called for holding. While the third time would not be the charm for the Rangers power play, it would be the third time the second power play unit outshined the top unit and it wasn’t particularly close. The top unit finally got a shot off but it didn’t pose much of a threat. Meanwhile, the second unit got some quality looks with Scott Morrow holding the blue line well. 

Time would expire on the power play just as it did on the period as the score remained 1-1 with the shots on goal again tied, this time 20-20. The Rangers still led the charge in scoring chances and now had the slight edge in high danger chances but just couldn’t find a way to convert on any of them. 

Third Period

It was all New York to start the third as the Rangers were out-shooting the Stars 4-0 within the first four minutes of play. They would get a huge advantage as Alexis Lafrenière took a Sam Steel stick up high which earned him a double minor, giving the Rangers power play units four minutes to go to work.

Unfortunately, Lafrenière had to leave the ice for repairs which took him off the the second power play unit for initial reps but it wouldn't make much of a difference as they only saw maybe 45 seconds of ice time across the double minor. The top unit finally started to connect on some opportunities but they still had nothing to show for. On the bright side, the Rangers were out-shooting the Stars 10-0 halfway through the period.

With eleven minutes to go, Sam Carrick nearly broke the tie as he redirected a shot from Gavrikov that went off the post. Really unfortunate that it didn't as the Stars would actually take the lead on the following shift. A J.T. Miller fumble at the blue line resulted in a 2-on-1 for Dallas. A nice move from Wyatt Johnston got around a diving Gavrikov to find Rantanen—who wasn't missing this time around—at the door step. 2-1 Dallas.

Another odd man rush with about seven minutes to go nearly put the Rangers behind even more but thankfully, they were bailed out by the post.

As time continued to wind down, the Rangers were running out of chances to get back in this contest. With two and a half to go and an offensive zone face-off, the Rangers pulled Shesterkin for the extra attacker. For the first time in what feels like years, they finally converted 6-on-5. A shot from Panarin at the point redirected off the stick of Trocheck and created a chance for Cuylle to put home the rebound. Tie game, 2-2.

That would do it for regulation as play settled in the remaining two minutes, forcing this one to overtime. Arguably the best third period the Rangers have played all season long as they registered over 20 shots on goal and converted with the 6-on-5 advantage.

Overtime

It may only be year one of a very long term deal, but Vladislav Gavrikov has been worth every penny so far. On the second shift of 3-on-3 overtime, a back and forth from Panarin and Zibanejad helped put the puck on net and it was Gavrikov who got to the front of the net to put the rebound home.

A massive win for this Rangers team as they pulled off a comeback win to beat one of the top teams in the Western Conference. Tying the game in the final two minutes it itself was a bit of a moral win but with how this season has gone, it's becoming increasingly difficult to feel good about anything other than actual wins. The fact that this team was able to pull off the comeback and win is huge and hopefully, a momentum builder for them moving forward.

The Rangers are back on the road as they'll head up north to visit the Ottawa Senators Thursday Night.