The New York Rangers returned home for an ugly dance with the Arizona Coyotes.
NEW YORK, NY -- The New York Rangers didn't exactly aim to have tonight's game be as close as it was, but the group is feelin encouraged after finding a way to close out a tight game at home.
LINEUP:
Kreider-Zibanejad-Kakko
Panarin-Chytil-Lafreniere
Cuylle-Trocheck-Wheeler
Goodrow-Bonino-Pitlick
Lindgren-Fox
Miller-Trouba
Gustafsson-Schneider
Shesterkin
1ST PERIOD:
Through the early minutes of the first period, there wasn't a ton of buzz in the building, at least it didn't feel that way. The game was pretty back-and-forth at the start, but neither team looked to have a step on the other.
The Rangers first great chance of the game came on a counter attack in the neutral zone after Braden Schneider made a strong, heads up play, finding Filip Chytil at center ice. Chytil then made a quick bump pass to Artemi Panarin who streaked into the offensive zone, but couldn't find a whole on the Coyotes Connor Ingram.
New York started to get a little sloppy in it's own end, but K'Andre Miller turned the tide. Miller made a great read in the neutral zone which led to a rush with Chris Kreider. Miller made a strong behind-the-back pass to Kreider, but he couldn't beat Ingram.
Moments later, Mika Zibanejad took advantage of a poor pinch by the Coyotes defensemen, leading to a 2-on-1 with Kreider. Like we've seen for years now, Kreider would finish a fantastic pass from Zibanejad to score the games opening goal.
After a relatively sloppy first ten minutes, the Rangers looked like the better team toward the end of the first.
2ND PERIOD:
New York got into some penalty trouble in the second period, allowing us to see this dynamic Coyotes power play. Logan Cooley, who was playing his 2nd NHL game, looked incredibly comfortable playing on the half-wall. Cooley, Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz would connect for a gorgeous goal on the man-advantage to tie things up at 1-1.
The Rangers sat back in their 1-3-1 neutral zone for most of the second period, which slowed the pace of the game a bit. It appeared that the referees put their whistles away for a little bit as there were some questionable non-calls for both sides.
Right after I suspected that the referee's had put their whistles away, things got chaotic. After almost having a potential 2-on-1 rush that started with a Shesterkin stretch pass, Lindgren and Lafreniere both took penalties which would put the Rangers down on a 2 minute 5-on-3.
The first half of the penalty kill was very strong, signaling a loud appreciation from the fans at Madison Square Garden. The 2nd period would end with a 1-1 tie.
3RD PERIOD:
The Rangers captain, Jacob Trouba, came up huge on the penalty kill to start the period. Blocking a shot and getting his stick in the passing lane to break up the Coyotes puck movement.
For a second, it seemed like the Rangers weren't going to be able to score as Ingram absolutely robbed Zibanejad on a power play one-timer. Seconds later, after some great puck movement, Trocheck, at least from what it looked like, got a piece of a Panarin shot to give the Rangers the 2-1 lead.
There were a couple of scary moments in the final frame. Keller and Fox, two old friends, had an accidental ugly collision, where Keller took out Fox's legs. Fox would head to the locker room for a short period of time before making his return to the ice.
Shortly after, Barclay Goodrow took down Jason Zucker, resulting in a penalty shot for the Coyotes and a chance to tie the game.
But, in Igor fashion, he was "Igoring". It's a new verb I'm working on, it's got no legs.
The Rangers would hang on and squeak out the 2-1 victory, but they didn't win it quietly as there was some rough stuff after the final whistle.
I asked Peter Laviolette what it does for the teams confidence to win a low-scoring one goal game in which the team wasn't perfect. Laviolette explained his thoughts by saying "I think that you're gonna have to figure out how to win a lot of different ways. Tonight, for me, it was a good test. Coming off the second period and not losing sync on the bench, and losing sync on the specialty teams, and on the 5-on-3's and not being able to pressure. You're in your zone, and you're taking a lot. So, to be able to turn it and switch it and the third period, go out there and then get it and put the kill in the third period. To me, that's a positive sign. Like I said, every game is played different, this is the way it was played tonight and I was proud of our guys and the way we went out and took charge in the third."
Going through adversity like the Rangers did tonight is very helpful in the long run. Now it's onto the Nashville Predators, who will be in town on Thursday.