First Period:
- Filip Chytil (17) Assists: Kaapo Kakko (15), Adam Fox (39)
- Blake Coleman (11) Assists: Andrew Mangiapane (17)
Second Period:
- Filip Chytil (18) Unassisted
- Tyler Toffoli (19) (Power Play) Assists: Rasmus Andersson (27), Elias Lindholm (31)
- Mika Zibanejad (23) (Power Play) Assists: Chris Kreider (12), Artemi Panarin (39)
Third Period:
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- Andrew Mangiapane (11) Assists: Noah Hanifin (18), Mikael Backlund (21)
- Mika Zibanejad (24) Assists: Artemi Panarin (40), Jimmy Vesey (9)
Overtime:
- Alexis Lafreniere (7) Assists: Mika Zibanejad (28)
Three Stars:
- 3: Andrew Mangiapane
- 2: Filip Chytil
- 1: Alexis Lafreniere
Stats:
Adam Rotter:
- That was one hell of a game and one where it went from a throwback to earlier in the season blown game, to getting one point and then picking up the second and starting the post-All-Star break push for the playoffs on a good note.
- This was a back and forth game, sloppy from both teams at times, but overall the Rangers were opportunistic and, maybe most importantly, dominated after that two minute stretch where they fell behind. 7-8 weeks ago the Rangers dropped that lead and never recover, now they played and pushed like they had no doubt that they would tie it up. They need to be sharper, but for a first game after a long layoff, it was good enough and ended with two points.
- It seemed like this was going to be a game where Alexis Lafreniere was going to be one of the Rangers best players, but wasn’t going to get rewarded with a point. Then came Overtime and he made an excellent pass to Mika Zibanejad, stayed in the right place to pick up the rebound and then fired it home. He looked terrific all game long and kept up the confident play that he had before the break. His play and production is going to be a big part, one way or the other, of the Rangers success the rest of this season and into the playoffs. It’s not all on him, but with how he has lagged behind Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil in the taking steps department this year, he is showing he has the ability to be a difference maker.
- Speaking of difference makers, Filip Chytil used his quick shot twice to continue his strong play. Again, that line, those three guys are going to be a huge part, one way or the other, of how the rest of this year goes.
- Jaro Halak had some big saves, especially early, and was solid again. The Rangers have a pretty compressed schedule coming up, so we’re probably going to start seeing Halak a lot more.
- Every time Jacob Trouba throws one of those hits I worry that a big suspension is going to come with it. Then they show the replay and it’s just a hard, clean hit. I don’t love that he has to fight right after, but if that happened to one of the Rangers you’d want to see them respond like that. Plus, the guys on the ice probably only see the result and instinct kicks in to defend your teammate. It was big that they capitalized on that second instigator.
- Vancouver comes to MSG on Wednesday, Seattle on Friday and then they got to Carolina on Saturday before three days off and a trip out to Western Canada.