The Rangers blew their third straight two-goal lead but unlike Friday's loss to the Wild, the team was able to pull out a late victory., K'Andre Miller's goal with 34 seconds to go and just 36 seconds after Seattle tied it pulled out the win. New York faces Florida on Tuesday at MSG before they are off for two weeks with their next game February 15 versus Boston.
Game recap:
A few thoughts: 1) Lineup: With Kappo Kakko and Filip Chytil still out, though Chytil might play Tuesday, Morgan Barron, who dressed Friday, sat yesterday. Greg McKegg and Jonny Brodzinksi each dressed rather than Barron. Alexis Lafremiere moved from the left to the right side on the top line. On D, with Adam Fox up, Libor Hajek was paired with Zac Jones with Nils Lundkvist remaining on the taxi squad. As the game wore on, Barclay Goodrow was moved down with Dryden Hunt moved up, though that did little good to help in creating a sustained attack.
Kreider - Zib - Laf Panarin - Strome - Goodrow Hunt - Rooney - Reaves McKegg - Brodzinski - Gauthier
Miller - Trouba Lindgren - Schneider Hajek - Jones
Igor
2) Miller: I thought this was one of his better games of the season. Besides the goal, he was active offensively, getting stoned on a breakaway earlier in the period while balancing when to pinch and fall back. Defensively, he was solid in his own zone, showing a bit more physicality than we have seen recently. In addition, he perfectly described the winning goal after the game, noting the semi-illegal pick/interference by Chris Kreider.
"[Mika] has been really good on the draw for us this year so I kind of had a feeling it was going to come right back to me; [Kreider] obviously helped with picking a guy (Riley Sheahan) a little bit," Miller said. "Just getting the puck on net and good things happen.
3) Igor Shesterkin was brilliant again, making 40 saves to earn the win. The game-tying goal was a one-time howitzer from inside the right dot on a 6-on-4 with Mark Giordano drawing the D over to him and then feeding Yanni Gourde who bet Igor high, short-side with a perfect shot. Igor came up with several big saves throughout the game, first to keep the Rangers in the lead and then to maintain the lead before the tying goal. He was under siege a good part of the game, but limited rebound chances.
4) The mood after the win was one where the team knew they didn't play particularly well and got lucky. This is has become way too often of a pattern, both in terms of blown leads but also the ability to generate quality shots and offense, especially when not on the power play. Zib was clearly not happy post-game, watch the below get the chance. Miller's and coach Gerard Gallant's comments are below. The good news is the team knows they have to better. The bad news is the pattern keeps repeating with few signs of improvement.
"Not bringing our best game tonight, just finding a way to get two points is the biggest thing. Miller said. We can definitely use this game to learn off of and improve from.""I think it was awful," Gallant said. "Love the win. Competitiveness, quite a bit, disappointing."