Recap: Rangers Blow Late Lead, Win 4-3 in Shootout

The New York Rangers are hosting their Hudson River rivals, the New Jersey Devils, for their third game of the preseason. The Devils beat the Wolf Pack Rangers on Monday and, while controlling much of the game, only secured the win in the final minutes. Tonight we see a variation of that Rangers roster, a lot of young and new faces, but with a couple injections of their younger NHL pieces as well.

The most important story to watch tonight is Joonas Korpisalo. The newly acquired goaltender is getting his first action of the preseason, and Drury will be watching closely. Several roster battles are underway, but the biggest one is the backup goaltending position. Dylan Garand is looking to prove himself, and it's safe to assume the Rangers are hoping he does. If the team decides to cut and send Garand to the AHL, he'll have to clear waivers, and the expectation is that he will not be clearing waivers. Will Korpisalo's performance threaten Garand's spot on the team? Stay tuned.

First Period

The game was physical from the start, as both teams' younger, aspiring players looked to make an impact and stand out. Cole Beaudoin is certainly as advertised. The center hustles all over the ice. He tracked the puck back into the Rangers' zone, backchecking like a madman. He followed and read the play, putting his body on the line to block a hard shot that he took off the leg. His time might not be now, but it will be soon. The future is bright for the newest Rangers' prospect.

The Devils were awarded the game's first power play when Nathan Aspinall was sent off the ice for holding Vladislav Kolyachonok. Thirty-one seconds into the power play, almost immediately after Kenny Albert announced to the world that Stefan Noesen was a power-play specialist, Seamus Casey's shot bounced off Korpisalo, deflected off Noesen, and landed in the back of the net. A bit of bad luck perhaps, but Kenny Albert needs to tempt the evil eye a little less.

The Rangers' best chance of the period came late, when Veleno had some time all alone right in front. Kartye, who had been noticeably persistent all period, pressured and won the puck in the neutral zone. He sent it to Marc Del Gaizo, who quickly skated into the Devils' zone. He turned and threw it in the slot, and Matt Rempe won the puck battle (with an uncalled tripping penalty) and got it to Joe Veleno, who was all alone in front of Nico Daws. Veleno attempted to pull the puck to the side and go over the Devils goaltender, but couldn’t pull it off, and the Rangers trailed as they headed into the first intermission.

Second Period

The middle period started with a bang, a few of them. The two teams were laying down the gauntlet against each other. Anton Blidh was fighting consecutive board battles against Kovyachonok, and then Ryan Schmelzer laid him out into the benches. The puck went the other way, and Del Gaizo lined up Amadeus Lombardi coming out of the Devils' zone. It was such a great impression of a wrecking ball, the open-ice hit motivated Marc McLaughlin to grapple with Del Gaizo. The New Jersey native, signed over the summer, was making quite the impression. Activating, jumping into the play, and finishing opponents with devastating physicality, it'll be interesting to see where he ends up in the pecking order. It's never a bad thing to have a surplus of options.

The Rangers would end up on the power play from this debacle, and it featured a couple renditions of unexpected power-play specialists such as Tye Kartye, Noah Laba, Jaroslav Chmelar, and more. Smits looked very comfortable on the blue line, setting up and facilitating plays with ease. The most exciting moment on the Rangers' power-play opportunity was, unfortunately for the Devils, but Korpisalo came up big, stopping a weird but dangerous shot.

The Devils got their own power-play opportunity shortly after when Cole Beaudoin was sent to the box for tripping Ben Steeves. The Rangers did a good job boxing out the Devils and clearing the puck down the ice, but unsurprisingly the hot tempers and physicality continued. Each whistle ended with a shove or an extra glove in the face in a scrum that seemed to come out of nowhere. After a long two minutes, the Rangers killed off the penalty.

The Devils continued to get faceoffs in the Rangers' zone, and after a combination of cycling the puck and the Rangers failing to clear it, the Devils doubled their lead. Liam Greentree turned the puck over in the corner of the Rangers' zone; Smits was double-teamed behind the net, leading to Morrow cheating and sneaking over closer to him. Matyas Melovsky sent a puck to Ethan Edwards right in front, who rocketed a shot over Korpisalo.

The teams kept trading chances, but the Rangers kept throwing hits, and both Kenny Albert and Dave Maloney said the young team was living up to the identity management was looking to cultivate. That hard-to-play-against mentality, a physical, in-your-face style of hockey that grinds their opponents down. Another positive through two periods has been the Rangers' performance at the dot. The team has posted an impressive 67.7% faceoff win rate, taking 21of 31 thus far.

Third Period

After a run-in with Kartye at the end of the second period, Casey didn't return, leaving the Devils with five defensemen. Right from the puck drop, the Rangers controlled the pace of the game. Laba won the puck, and the Rangers' forwards skated hard, forechecking and putting the Devils back on their heels.

Making the save on a Del Gaizo wrist shot, Daws froze the puck. At first, it seemed the Devils had escaped danger, but then the Rangers finally broke through. Will Cuylle and Gabe Perreault led the charge out of the Rangers' zone. Perreault had the puck near the top of the circle and tried to turn and make a blind pass. The puck unintentionally banked off Robertson's skate and careened toward the net, where it went off Cuylle's hip and past Daws.

The Blueshirts wouldn't stop there; shortly after, they built on their momentum and tied the game. The Devils had a delayed penalty, and the Rangers sent the extra man onto the ice. Scott Morrow would start the play, making the initial pass into the corner of their zone. Perreault continued the play, making a sharp-angle pass to Glenn Gawdin on the side of the net. He stickhandled and tried to stuff it past Daws, and the puck popped out to Blidh, who was able to bat it under Daws for the Rangers' second goal of the game.

The Rangers were alive; multiple lines were buzzing. The physicality continued, with even Korpisalo getting involved. The Finnish goalie stuck up for himself and jabbed a Devil or two who crowded his crease. After Korpisalo made a big stop, the Rangers got another prime opportunity of their own. It ended with Laba looking up at the rafters after he sent a shot that deflected out of the rink. Fear not, as Laba would find a way to help the team get on the board almost immediately after.

Laba tied up Ethan Edwards on the boards in the Rangers' zone after forcing him off the puck, and passed it out of the Rangers' zone to Matt Rempe. Rempe handed it off to Cuylle, who skated it over the Devils' blue line. He passed it to Morrow, who came into the Devils' zone with speed, swooped down to the left of the net, and centered the puck toward Cuylle, but it bounced off the Devils' defenseman instead. The Rangers now had their first lead of the night.

It looked like the Rangers had a good chance to get their first regulation win of preseason, but Lombardi and the Devils had other plans. Sheldon Keefe pulled Daws, and the Devils sent the extra attacker out onto the ice. With just under two minutes left, Jesper Boqvist won a board battle, and the puck squeaked out to Lombardi, who caught Kartye reaching while skating toward the net. Lombardi shot the puck past Korpisalo to tie it late in the period for the Devils.

Overtime & Shootout

The Rangers got the first real scoring opportunity in overtime. Noah Laba skated the length of the ice and caught Lombardi watching the play. He went wide and got a tough angle shot that Daws saved, but Laba had positioning over Lombardi, who had to slash the Ranger to force him wide. The Rangers were getting another power play.

The Blueshirts had several good opportunities on the man advantage, but the Devils pushed back with Noesen easily killing twenty seconds of the power play. As time wound down, Smits was on the point making a pass to both Greentree and Veleno, and both ignored Smits when he slapped his stick on the ice looking for the pass back for a one-timer setup. At the next whistle, Smits skated up to Greentree, likely telling his fellow rookie to give him the puck back. Nothing came of it, but Smits wanting the puck back and to be the guy is a great sign for New York.

After Perreault and his linemates tried to force a play and turned the puck over, the Devils came flying in on a two-on-one; Lombardi slid the puck to Steeves, but he couldn't get the angle to beat Korpisalo. Not to be outdone, Cuylle pulled a nifty move to get around Xavier Parent and get a last-minute scoring chance, but no dice. The game was heading to a shootout.

The Devils were going first, and Lenni Hameenaho came in fast on Korpisalo, who made the easy save. Up first for the Rangers was Perreault, who tried a nifty move but failed to get the angle right to tuck the puck between Daws's legs. Topias Vilen, a defenseman, was up next for the Devils, but Korpisalo made the stop again, remaining perfect. Shooting second for the Rangers was Cuylle, who swung wide and placed a shot right above Daws's left arm and off the post to score the first goal of the shootout. As Lombardi skated to the center as the Devils' third player, Korpisalo had the chance to win the game for the Rangers. Lombardi came in slowly, sweeping wide like Cuylle. But unlike Cuylle, he was unable to launch the puck past the goalie, with Korpisalo blockering the puck away to win the game for the Rangers.