Recap: Rangers Unable to Complete the Comeback, Fall to the Golden Knights 3-2

Tonight, the New York Rangers are on the road, facing off against the Vegas Golden Knights. After a poor showing against the Detroit Red Wings, the Rangers are eager to bounce back. There are a few lineup changes tonight: Mike Sullivan has returned and will be behind the bench for the Blueshirts, something they sorely missed; the Rangers have already had more than enough of their share of games under David Quinn's guidance. Second, Juuso Parssinen is slotting into the fourth line in place of Adam Edstrom, and Will Borgen is returning to the lineup after missing the game in Detroit.

First Period

The first half of the opening period was mostly uneventful as the two teams traded chances back and forth. The highlight for the Rangers was a savvy defensive play broken up by Trocheck when he lifted the stick of a Golden Knight after backchecking to break up an odd-man rush. However, eleven minutes in, Artemi Panarin tripped Mitch Marner in the neutral zone, a penalty accurately described by Dave Maloney as foolish. The Golden Knights wasted no time setting up in the offensive zone. They cycled the puck around, and Hertl sent a shot from the blue line that bounced off of Shesterkin to Braeden Bowman waiting on the side of the cage. He wasted no time sweeping it into the net to give the Golden Knights the first lead of the game.

Bowman's tally was the lone goal of the period and effectively deflated the Rangers after their aggressive start to the game. While the Golden Knights outshot the Rangers 8-5 in the first, they also blocked 10 shots, clogging the middle lanes and making it harder for the Rangers to get pucks to the net.

Second Period

Just a few minutes into the second, the Golden Knights had the puck deep behind the Rangers' net. J.T. Miller and Adam Fox worked the puck out of a scrum up the boards, where Zibanejad couldn't keep possession. Hertl grabbed the puck and sent a pass to Dorofeyev, who cut across the zone and then passed to Ben Hutton. He skated down the left circle toward the net. He held onto the puck, feigning a wrist shot, and squeezed a puck through Shesterkin's five-hole to put the Golden Knights up 2-0.

Shortly after, Laba and Soucy pressured Barbashev by the Rangers' blue line. Soucy pushed him off the puck, and Cuylle scooped it up and was off to the races with Brodzinski on a two-on-one toward the Golden Knights' zone. Cuylle held onto the puck and placed a shot that bounced off of Schmid. Brodzinski crashed the net and was able to get a garbage goal and put the Rangers on the board.

As the period progressed, the Rangers got their first power play when Kaedan Korczak, the older brother of former Rangers draft pick Ryder Korczak, tripped Lafrenière. The Rangers had some good movement on the power play at first, but failed to make anything of it, and the Golden Knights were able to interrupt their passing and clear the zone multiple times successfully. The Golden Knights went into the second intermission with a 2-1 lead.

Third Period

As the final period was underway, the Golden Knights were controlling the game, but Shesterkin and the Rangers were doing everything they could to continue hanging with them. A funky shot deflected toward Shesterkin, but he recovered and was able to knock the puck away up over the net with his glove. Right after this, the Golden Knights put an easy shot on net that Shesterkin covered up, but Reinhardt got a bit too close, bumping into Igor. Parssinen, Fox, and Carrick took issue with that, getting in his face and making sure the Golden Knights knew they wouldn't go softly into the night. While the team was still behind, this attitude and approach were refreshing.

After Carson Soucy interfered with Cole Reinhardt, the Golden Knights were once again on the power play. Vegas would ultimately strike and increase their lead, but not before an intense sequence that saw high danger chances for both the Golden Knights and Rangers. The Golden Knights had possession of the puck in the Rangers' zone, and Shesterkin committed to a shot to the side of the net. The puck then bounced to Eichel at the top of the slot, but he was denied by Shesterkin, who was lying on the ground and was somehow able to get his blocker on it. Seconds later, the Golden Knights would hit the post, and the Rangers would then get their own opportunity. Cuylle and Trocheck popped out of the zone for a two-on-one and made several slick passes, but couldn't stuff the puck past Schmid. The play came back into the Rangers zone, and Theodore showed poise at the point and wristed a shot past Shesterkin, who was arguably interfered with by Sissons.

As things were beginning to look dire for the Rangers, they would get another goal of their own from Brodzinski once again. However, the Golden Knights successfully challenged the call, and after a quick review, the referees confirmed the play was offside. Right before entering the zone, Miller would stickhandle and swerve with the puck, causing Zibanejad to enter the zone first. The two-goal lead still stood.

The Golden Knights continued to get in front of the Rangers' shots, making their life difficult as they began pressing to tie the game. With just under four minutes left in the game, Sullivan pulled Shesterkin for the extra attacker. They skated up the ice and cycled around the Golden Knights' zone. Miller passed the puck to Panarin at the point, and he wound up for a slapshot. Trocheck, skating through the slot, got his stick on it to deflect it past Schmid to bring the Rangers within

The Rangers were desperately trying to claw their way back into this game. There was a scary moment when the Golden Knights almost scored an empty-net goal, but Adam Fox made an excellent defensive play, dove, and knocked the puck away, preventing Vegas from getting an insurance goal. Although the Rangers had several great chances late in the game, including a scramble in which the puck went into the net but was ruled no goal by the referees, they were unable to score the tying goal and lost to the Golden Knights on the road.