It was another overtime heartbreaker for the New York Rangers on Sunday night in their 3-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Going into this matchup, the Rangers were coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche, where they were happy with how they played and competed against the NHL’s best team.
That same effort level and momentum did not translate into the first period against Vegas, as the Blueshirts came out lackadaisical, giving up a goal less than one minute into the contest, while being bombarded with pressure from the Golden Knights.
“We clearly didn't have our legs or energy in the first,” Mike Sullivan said.
The Rangers flipped the script in the second period. The offensive charge was led by the line of Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, and Alexis Lafrenière.
While J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck, and Conor Sheary have taken the shutdown-defensive role, it has been Panarin, Zibanejad, and Lafrenière who have transformed into the Rangers’ most dangerous offensive trio.
Goals from Zibanejad and Lafrenière in the middle frame gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead and newfound momentum.
Lafrenière had two points on the night and his play caught the eye of Sullivan.
“I thought it was one of his better games that he had all season for us, and that is what he’s capable of,” Sullivan said of Lafrenière. “I thought he was strong on pucks. He was hanging on pucks in the offensive zone. The goal he got was a goal scorer's goal. It was more than just that.
“I thought he was around the net. He was winning puck battles. He was in the battle areas. He was challenging people by hanging on pucks, and that's what he's capable of. He's a real good 1-on-1 player, and we've been trying to encourage him to challenge people down under the hash marks, and force people to have to take the puck away from him, because he's big and strong, and he's got a lot of really good puck skills. I thought tonight was one of his better nights.”
The Rangers did a good job of maintaining their narrow lead up until disaster struck in the third period when offsetting roughing penalties to Will Borgen and Brett Howden gave the Golden Knights a 5-on-4 advantage once they pulled their goalie, ultimately leading a Tmomas Hertl goal with 51.3 seconds remaining.
“There's a big difference between a 6-on-5 and 5-on-4 and trying to defend it. It had a huge implication,” Sullivan emphasized. “We got to do a better job, obviously, in that situation, and kill it off.”
Vegas scored another last-second goal in overtime with about eight seconds remaining from Jack Eichel, as the Rangers came away with just one point instead of two.
“I'm disappointed for the players, for the guys because I thought we competed hard,” Sullivan said. “I thought we've had a pretty hard week against some of the best teams in the league, and these guys are competing. They're competing extremely hard. I think we put a game on the ice that I think the guys should be proud of. I'm disappointed for them.”
Rangers Remain Upbeat After Encouraging Performance Against Avalanche In Losing Effort While the New York <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers">Rangers</a> didn’t come away with two points in their 3-2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday afternoon, there’s a lot to be encouraged about from a Blueshirts perspective.
Sullivan is right, the Rangers have had a tough stretch of games this week, playing the Dallas Stars, Ottawa Senators, Avalanche, and Golden Knights.
In that stretch, the Blueshirts came away with 6 out of 8 points, which Sullivan believes is a sign of the growth this team has continued to show.
"We're moving towards the identity that we're trying to build and the game that we're trying to play,” Sullivan said. “We've just got to continue to stay hungry and continue to work at it. I think, once again, when you play some of the better teams in the league like we have most recently and the guys perform the way they have, I think it provides a lot of evidence, and I think that reinforces belief in what we're doing and how we're going about it, so I think that should help us moving forward.”
The Rangers will be back in action on Wednesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks.