Adam Fox felt a second wind gust by means of his legs when he noticed a two-on-one alternative develop with Artemi Panarin lower than a minute into time beyond regulation.
It was the identical sort of state of affairs Fox had defended in apply many instances, however this time, the 24-year-old defenseman was on the opposite aspect. The two broke out of the Rangers’ zone side-by-side. Panarin pushed forward. And Fox pulled up, earlier than settling the move and sweeping the puck five-hole on Anaheim goalie John Gibson to safe a 4-3 win over the Ducks on Tuesday evening at Madison Square Garden.
“I’m pretty surprised he [went] with me,” Panarin stated with a smile and with out the assistance of an interpreter.
The aim counted as Fox’s first time beyond regulation aim of his already illustrious NHL profession, which is just three seasons previous. The 24-year-old defenseman additionally chipped in two assists within the victory, whereas Panarin notched three to propel the Rangers to second within the Metropolitan Division with two wins and a sport in hand over the Penguins.
Between the robust play from two of their stars and a well timed power-play aim, the Blueshirts got here out on prime of a sport that seemed prefer it might’ve gone both approach by means of 60 minutes.
“I think it speaks to how focused this group is on accomplishing our first goal, which is making the playoffs,” stated Chris Kreider, whose NHL-leading twentieth power-play aim within the third interval tied the sport 3-3 and compelled time beyond regulation. “Regardless, if a sport just isn’t going effectively otherwise you don’t really feel such as you’re going individually, guys are capable of refocus and assist the staff try to win a hockey sport.
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“Regardless of where we’re at — home or on the road — I think that ability to kind of dial in and get back to playing simple hockey and doing little things that’ll help the team is kind of ultimately something that everyone’s bought into up and down the lineup.”
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Roughly midway by means of the ultimate 20 minutes of regulation with the rating locked 2-2, it appeared as if the save the Rangers wanted and didn’t get from goalie Alexandar Georgiev was going to be the difference-maker.
Former Rangers prospect Danny O’Regan made a key block and despatched the main move to Ducks ahead Derek Grant, who deked Georgiev to his proper earlier than flicking the puck prime left nook for the 3-2 lead at 10:35 of the third interval.
Ducks ahead Max Comtois, nevertheless, handed the Rangers an influence play when he hooked Fox with simply over eight minutes left in regulation. It’s the sort of alternative the Rangers not often let go to waste, and Kreider collected his four-hundredth profession level along with his thirty ninth aim of the season to tie the sport 3-3.
“Mika [Zibanejad] missed a few on the ones he usually hits, he missed a couple chances, so the execution wasn’t great a few times,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant stated of the facility play. “But for Kreids to get that big one to tie it up was huge for us, no doubt.”
Georgiev, making simply his third begin because the Rangers returned from their two-week hiatus in the beginning of February, was sharp by means of a lot of the primary 40 minutes. He denied Ducks rookie phenom Trevor Zegras on the doorstep within the first interval, during which the groups exchanged objectives, getting over simply in time because the cross-ice feed slid in entrance of him.
“Overall, we just have confidence in the way we play and really high morale,” Panarin stated by means of a translator. “We obviously never give up and we just have the right mindset. It’s very much about confidence on our team.”
Oh, and that’s comeback win No. 20 for these conserving monitor at residence.
