Recap: Rangers End Scoring Drought but Fall to Maple Leafs 2-1 in Overtime

In the first of a two game road trip through eastern Canada, the New York Rangers took on the Toronto Maple Leafs for the first time this season. Looking to snap their cold streak that saw them shutout in their last two games, the Rangers entered the game with some lineup uncertainty as Will Borgen was listed as questionable earlier in the day, becoming a game time decision. He would end up good to go as the Rangers only change to the lineup was Jusso Parssinen slotting back in for Jonny Brodzinski. Who knew that decision would have had such an impact on how this game went!

First Period

After four minutes of play the Rangers were awarded the first penalty of the game as Artemi Panarin was sent off for hooking. A bit of a weak call but no harm associated with the foul as the Rangers were successful in killing off the man advantage. Additionally, they had one quality chance as Matthew Robertson made a good read and joined the rush with Noah Laba and Taylor Raddysh who nearly had a short handed goal on an odd-man rush. Igor Shesterkin was tasked with making a big play towards the end to shut down the Leafs’ power play which brought the team back to even strength. 

Shortly after, Dakota Joshua was called for roughing during a post whistle scrum which gave the Rangers their first power play chance of the night. The top unit for the Rangers saw the full two minutes with Alexis Lafrenière seeing the best chance that was met by the glove of Anthony Stolarz. It wouldn’t be long before the Rangers were back to the penalty kill as Will Cuylle was called for another extremely soft hooking call. Especially frustrating considering the Rangers have been doing a great job of staying out of the box as of late. 

The Rangers wouldn’t have the same luck the second time around as William Nylander let a shot go that went off of Shesterkin, off of Matthew Knies who was netfront for the Leafs, and into the back of the net. 1-0 Toronto for what was their first power play goal of the season, because of course it was. 

With just over four minutes to go in the period, the Rangers were back to the power play as Knies was called for tripping. Once again, the Rangers had some great looks with the man advantage, specifically from the power play two forward trio who were accompanied by an extended Fox and Panarin shift, but could not find the back of the net. Some big saves from Stolarz helped keep that goose egg intact. Eighteen and a half minutes into the game and all of the Rangers eight shots came from the power play. 

The Rangers spent the final minute and a half in the Leafs end of the ice and played with some urgency but the score was still 1-0 against their favor heading into the first intermission. Shots after two were 10-9 in the Rangers favor who also had the edge in attempts, hits and face-off wins. Both teams had five high danger chances as the goaltending was solid from the start. For those keeping score that’s now seven consecutive periods of scoreless hockey for the Rangers, ten periods total on the season. 

Second Period

We saw a shake up in the top six to start the period as Lafrenière and Cuylle swapped places, putting Cuylle on the line with Panarin and Zibanejad, Lafrenière with Miller and Sheary. That almost paid immediate dividends as Zibanejad had Cuylle on an odd man rush but was shut down by the pad of Stolarz. He wasn’t the only one getting robbed as Vladislav Gavrikov had a big chance on a rebound that was shut down as well. The scoreless streak now extending to over 150 minutes. The longer it goes on, the more unbelievable it becomes. 

The Rangers continued to have chances throughout the period but could not crack the code that was Anthony Stolarz. One of their better chances came with about eight minutes to go as Miller and Lafrenière had a great chance on a 2-on-1 with Miller electing to shoot. Right idea, but was not enough. 

With six minutes to go, the Rangers got a third chance on the power play as Simon Benoit took Conor Sheary down in the corner. In what was easily the worst of their three attempts, the Rangers were now 155 minutes without a goal. Shortly after returning to even strength, Taylor Raddysh took Carrick and Edstrom on a 3-on-1 and set up Carrick perfectly at the doorstep. You’ll never believe it, but Stolarz made a highlight reel save and the Rangers continued to be held scoreless. 

It bears repeating, the longer it goes on, the more unbelievable it comes. After two periods of play in Toronto, the scoreless streak was up to 165 minutes, just over eight full periods. Shots on goal after forty minutes were 20-19 Rangers.  

Third Period

FINALLY! Almost five minutes into the period a great effort by Noah Laba kept the play alive in the offensive zone and a shot from Braden Schneider at the point deflected off of Jusso Parssinen in front to find the back of the net. After 170 minutes, the Rangers had a goal to show for, 1-1 game. 

There wasn’t a ton of action for the majority of the period as the Blue Jays game drew the biggest response from the crowd through the heart of the third. With three minutes to go, Matt Rempe had a great scoring chance as he ripped a shot off the mask of Stolarz. As he and his linemates were beginning to swarm the Leafs house, the helmet of Stolarz had fallen off as he ended up making a helmetless save before the officials were able to blow the whistle. 

That would do it for regulation as the score was locked at 1-1 through sixty minutes of play. The Rangers out-shot the Leafs 29-23 as they picked up a point and head to extras for the first time this season.

Overtime

In an interesting change, the Rangers opened with Miller, Lafrenière and Gavrikov as opposed to the usual Zibanejad, Panarin, Fox trio. That became more of a defensive precaution as Fox came out for Gavrikov once the Rangers had possession. As the Rangers changed, Zibanejad had a great chance for a shot but whiffed on it, resulting in a 3-on-1 for Toronto. Nylander held onto the puck long after Fox sprawled out to intercept a pass, found Auston Matthews at the doorstep and put an end to this one.

The Rangers were not good in overtime last season with a record of 3-7 in 3-0n-3 with only one game going to a shootout in which they won. Unfortunately, they wouldn't get off on the right foot this year either as Matthews goal secured a 2-1 win for the Leafs. Good news, the Rangers broke their scores drought. Bad news, they're now on a three game losing streak.

They'll look to snap that new streak as they head to Montreal to take on the Canadiens Saturday night.