The New York Rangers took a step in the right direction in their gutsy, come-from-behind 4-3 overtime victory against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night. 

Going into this matchup, the Rangers were coming off a 2-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks, but there was still a sense of dissatisfaction, especially on offense. 

The Rangers started off the first period strong and quickly took the lead after Jonny Brodzinski scored his first goal of the season. The first 20 minutes ended in a 1-1 tie, with the Rangers having a lot to be encouraged about. 

However, the Oilers’ explosive offense came alive in the second period, and suddenly the Rangers found themselves in a 3-1 hole.

Given their lack of confidence and lifeless offense as of late, it was safe to assume the Blueshirts would leave Edmonton with a loss. 

The Rangers’ frustration nearly got the best of them, but it was Sullivan’s message that helped turn their mentality around. 

“I just talked to them about resetting their mindset,” Sullivan said of his message from the second to third period. “It doesn't always go your way, and you gotta make sure to dig in and you don’t become your own worst opponent by allowing your frustration to get the best of you. It was about a reset, going out and digging in.”

And boy, did the Rangers ever reset. 

To open up the third period, Sullivan completely switched up the lines, putting J.T Miller and Mika Zibanejad back together alongside Artemi Panarin. Alexis Lafrenière played with Noah Laba and Will Cuylle, while Juuso Parssinen centered a line with Taylor Raddysh and Conor Sheary.

“The reason behind the decision we felt as a coaching staff that it might be the time to do it, and we felt like we needed a spark,” Sullivan said.

The Rangers came out in the final frame with two unanswered goals from Braden Schneider and Raddysh to tie the game. 

Down by two goals, the Rangers showed a willingness not to give up, as they went to a place we haven’t seen all season. 

Their resilience was put to the test when the Oilers started overtime with a power play, but the Blueshirts successfully killed it off, and minutes later Miller found the back of the net, propelling New York to an impressive victory. 

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These sorts of victories mean more than just two points. The Rangers gained much-needed confidence, and that can truly go a long way. 

“We needed the confidence,” Miller said. “We liked at least two periods of our game on the road, playing a really good team at home. We needed that, like I said to build some confidence, see some pucks go in. Hopefully that could propel us to keep this thing going.”

This could be a turning point for the Rangers, if the team uses this moment to continue building on their newfound confidence. 

“I think it’s a huge boost of confidence,” Sullivan said. “I think to come back the way we did in that fashion is a huge boost of confidence for the group. Once again, it’s a step in the right direction. We got a long way to go, we know that, but there’s a lot of good that we can take from this game.”

The Rangers will be back in action on Saturday night against the Seattle Kraken.