First Period:
- Anders Lee (11) Assists: Alexander Romanov (9), Noah Dobson (12)
- Artemi Panarin (9) (Power Play) Assists: Mika Zibanejad (23), Adam Fox (28)
Second Period:
- Mathew Barzal (5) Assists: Josh Bailey (8)
- Julien Gauthier (5) Assists: Barclay Goodrow (9)
- Alexander Romanov (1) Assists: Mathew Barzal (28)
Third Period:
Ad
- Barclay Goodrow (8) Assists: Julien Gauthier (3), Ben Harpur (1)
- Kaapo Kakko (9) Assists: K’Andre Miller (14), Alexis Lafreniere (12)
- Vincent Trocheck (12) (Empty Net) Assists: Barclay Goodrow (10), Ryan Lindgren (11)
Three Stars:
- 3: Barclay Goodrow
- 2: Kaapo Kakko
- 1: Julien Gauthier
Stats:
- What a win for the Rangers. A four-line win, they came back three times and get back to winning after dropping Tuesday’s game to Pittsburgh.
- It was so fitting and so nice for Kaapo Kakko to get the winner. He made too many moves and got the puck poked away on what turned into Mat Barzal’s goal and then he redeems himself with the winner off a great feed from K’Andre Miller. You hope that he can take that goal and his strong play into a big rest of the season. 20 goals might not be out of the question for Kakko.
- John Giannone said during the game that Chris Kreider spoke to Kakko on the bench and that it continues to show his importance to the team goes beyond his goals.
- Barclay Goodrow fits just about everywhere and got swapped from the top-line to the fourth-line and had a three point night. He does so many little things in all areas and made a really deft pass to lead Julien Gauthier for his goal.
- The ship has sailed on Julien Gauthier being the kind of player that the Rangers thought they were getting when they acquired the former first round pick, but he looks like he can follow in Jimmy Vesey’s footsteps and reinvent himself as a forechcker and bottom-sixer than can occasionally reach back and flash his skill. He needs to become more of a two-way player, but that is his path to being a regular NHLer.
- That was a very nifty play when Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin switched spots for Panarin’s PP goal. The PP can get predictable if every pass tries to go cross-ice to Zibanejad, but if they can make those kind of switches, with Adam Fox roaming around, they can hopefully open up more lanes and create more opportunities.
- So they go into the Holiday break winning eight of their last nine, getting contributions from everyone and looking completely different than they did a few weeks ago. The confidence is back, the belief is back, Igor Shesterkin is back and they are looking very much like the contenders they are supposed to be. There is still a lot of season left, but you go into this break with probably the best feeling that you’ve had since the Opening Night win over Tampa.