The game almost slipped away, but the New York Rangers hung on to defeat the San Jose Sharks in a high-scoring Sunday affair.
NEW YORK, NY -- The New York Rangers and San Jose Sharks collided for a Sunday night shootout as an Artemi Panarin hat trick boosted his team to a 6-5 win.
LINEUP:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Brodzinski
Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere
Cuylle-Bonino-Wheeler
Vesey-Goodrow-Pitlick
Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Trouba
Gustafsson-Schneider
Quick
1ST PERIOD:
The New York Rangers looked like they had a good jump in their step out of the gate, but it was the San Jose Sharks who drew first blood.
In typical fashion, it was a former Ranger that opened the scoring.
Anthony Duclair caught Jacob Trouba cheating offensively and snuck behind the Rangers defense. Duclair received a great pass from Kyle Burroughs and beat Jonathan Quick with a gorgeous backhand-forehand move.
The Rangers failed to convert on their first power play of the game, but the Sharks did them a favor by taking another one shortly after the first one expired.
This time, they made it count thanks to Artemi Panarin.
Mika Zibanejad recorded an assist on this goal, extending his point streak to seven games.
Panarin's pin-point accuracy has always been one of his biggest strengths. The "Bread Man" continues to set franchise record.
There is certainly a curse with former Rangers coming back to Madison Square Garden and scoring goals. It was Ryan Carpenter who would break the tie, as he squeaked one past Quick from the slot to give the Sharks their second lead of the evening.
Panarin had something to say about that.
Vincent Trocheck led the rush up the ice, continuing his strong play on this line with Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere. Panarin banged home a rebound for his second of the game on a Trocheck wraparound attempt.
We don't typically see Panarin score greasy goals like this. I mentioned that to him after the game, to which he replied "Kreids usually worry about that, maybe I go net front now on PP.”
Zibanejad would give the Rangers their first lead late in the period. I thought this play was going to be a bit more controversial.
Earlier on the shift, it seemed pretty obvious that puck had hit the netting in the San Jose zone, even the fans were looking for a whistle. The referees never blew the play dead and the Rangers went onto score. I was very surprised that David Quinn, the Sharks head coach, didn't challenge the play for a missed stoppage.
It turned out that I had the rule wrong. Randy Hahn, the play-by-play broadcaster for the Sharks was kind enough to respond to my tweet during the first intermission.
Either way, Zibanejad's shot was perfect.
What a fun opening period to this game.
2ND PERIOD:
The Sharks would get their first man-advantage opportunity of the game a little bit before the halfway point of the second period. After a very strong minute and a half of the kill, the Sharks found a way to convert. Jacob MacDonald blasted a one-timer past Jonathan Quick as Duclair was screening him in front.
The Rangers had a strong chance to take the lead back shortly after when Lafreniere was taken down on a clear-cut breakaway. He was rewarded with a penalty shot, but failed to convert.
In the last few minutes of the period, the Rangers took the lead back thanks to Nick Bonino and Will Cuylle. Cuylle got his feet moving up ice and found space for Bonino to send him in on a breakaway on Blackwood. Cuylle ripped it high glove, giving the Rangers back the lead.
The Rangers were outshooting the Sharks 31-19 going into the final twenty minutes.
3RD PERIOD:
A little less than five minutes into the third period, Panarin would complete the hat trick.
Jonny Brodzinski, who spent the night on the first line, made a great read at the offensive blue line and attacked the net. Panarin came in late to clean up the rebound for his third of the night, giving the Rangers a 5-3 lead.
Brodzinski has looked great since being called up. After leading the AHL in scoring, he has now tallied four assists in his last two games with the big club. I spoke to him about his confidence level after the game. Brodzinski said "I think this is the first time in my career really that the coaches are trusting me right away and putting me in a position to succeed. I think that’s the most beneficial thing that I’ve had so far. Getting into a role that I'm comfortable with and can excel at."
It's a tough adjustment to make going from the AHL to the NHL when you have a family. Brodzinski continued by telling me "It's nothing that I'm not used to. Hotel living, two kids, wife, dog, moving everybody around so, it is what is, but it's a lot of fun."
Luckily for Brodzinski and his family, his parents got to be in town for this game tonight.
I told Peter Laviolette what Brodzinski said about that trust level that he aforementioned. Laviolette spoke very highly of Brodzinski's game. Laviolette added "He had a really good training camp. We were just talking about pushing things offensively from training camp, he was the one guy who did. He was generating lots of scoring chances, attempts, pucks at the net, he was doing lots of good things and he does it through his speed and his offensive instincts and skills. I mentioned this the other day, I think trying to put people in positions where they can be successful, that would be a spot for him to come up and show what he can do. On the power play, that's the type of a situation, that type of a line. Then it's up to him. It's up to people to make the most of the opportunities."
Lafreniere has been incredibly impressive all season, but the little details in his game have improved drastically. The Sharks were putting a ton of pressure on the Rangers late in the third period.
Laviolette has shown a lot of trust in Lafreniere this season. I asked him about the defensive responsibility that he's given Lafreniere lately. Laviolette said "From an offensive standpoint, he's clicked on all cylinders. That line has been really good and obviously chemistry with the three of them. They've been a line that's been producing now consistently all year. That line, the Trocheck line, Troch is more of a penalty killer and finding those responsibilities more. I like the fact that his two wingers are playing a detailed game to try and make sure they're doing the correct things defensively as well. You get people that push the game offensively and are winning games for you, they want that opportunity to finish a game when you're up. There's a trust that goes there. Right now they're on top of their game, they're driving our team. Got to give them a chance to finish the game as well."
Lafreniere broke the puck out individually and got on his horse. His skating helped lead to K'Andre Miller's insurance goal that gave the Rangers a 6-3 lead.
The Sharks didn't go away easily. They scored two goals in a minute and twelve seconds to make it a 6-5 game late in the third.
"We just lost focus" Panarin told me after the game.
The energy in the Garden got very nervous all of the sudden.
San Jose put a ton of pressure on the Rangers at the end of the game, but the team hang on and took another two points.