First Period:
- Braden Schneider (3) Assists: Julien Gauthier (2)
- Pavel Buchnevich (9) Assists: Nick Leddy (8), Robert Thomas (18)
- Adam Fox (7) (Power Play) Assists: Artemi Panarin (23), Vincent Trocheck (8)
Second Period:
- Vladimir Tarasenko (7) Unassisted
- Vincent Trocheck (9) Assists: Artemi Panarin (24), Jacob Trouba (7)
- Jordan Kyrou (10) (Power Play) Assists: Justin Faulk (12), Brayden Schenn (12)
- Ryan O’Reilly (8) Assists: Brayden Schenn (13), Jordan Kyrou (11)
Third Period:
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- K’Andre Miller (1) Assists: Alexis Lafreniere (8)
- Alexis Lafreniere (4) Assists: Mika Zibanejad (16)
- Chris Kreider (13) (Shorthanded) Unassisted
Stats:
- This was looking like another real ugly, frustrating, blown lead loss….and then Jordan Binnington let K’Andre Miller’s shot trickle through, they took the momentum, scored twice more and won.
- The result and the two points are what matters, but the Rangers did not play at that well for most of the game. They took penalty after penalty, weren’t getting shots or chances and looked ready to take another loss. The second period was ugly for the Rangers, but they found a team in St. Louis that is as frustratingly inconsistent and, so far, disappointing and found a way to win.
- There were two options for Alexis Lafreniere: sit for a game or be bumped up to the top line. After another offensive zone penalty, where St. Louis scored, sitting in Las Vegas seemed like the next step for Lafreniere, but Gerard Gallant put Mika Zibanejad between him and Kaapo Kakko and that trio started playing like The Kid Line. The Rangers desperately need Lafrenere, and Kakko, to get going and if getting him going means that Chris Kreider gets bumped lower in the lineup then so be it. Kreider can still be an effective player in different spots, and especially still on the PP, but if Lafreniere next to Zibanejad means that Lafreniere is going to start taking meaningful steps then it’s worth it.
- Kaapo Kakko had his best game in a while, but he can’t buy a goal. He had a beautiful move that beat Binnington, but he lost the puck at the post when he tried putting it in, he was stopped on a point blank chance and then hit another post in the third. He made some big plays along the wall on the tying goal and, again, could get a big boost playing on the top line.
- Igor Shesterkin gave up four, but he was fine. Things still need to be tightened up in front of him, but he also needs to steal that one or two extra saves that he did last year.
- The question now is whether they can build on this third period and shuffled lines. The next two are Vegas and Colorado on the road and then home next Monday against the Devils and next Thursday against the Leafs. These next four games and wins against good teams and go a long way in turning things around for good. They need to start taking steps forward without then taking 2-3 steps back the next night.