It could have been much worse for the New York Rangers on Tuesday night, the visiting Arizona Coyotes launched 21 shots in the first period and managed a single goal for a 1-0 lead.
They outshot the Rangers 21-4.
The two teams exchanged goals all night until Christian Dvorak scored in extra time to hand the Rangers another loss, their fifth straight, 3-2.
“We’re playing a brand of hockey where we feel good about our game every night because we work hard and try to do the right things,” defenseman Alex Goligoski (goal) said. “It’s working out. Really, we have everybody going. I can’t think of one guy who doesn’t have his game going.”
The Rangers never took possession of the puck in the extra session and Dvorak scored with 64 seconds gone.
“We knew they were tired, and I kept just roaming around the zone there looking for a hole and I was able to find it,” Dvorak said. “He left the glove side open. I went for it.”
Lawson Crouse also scored for the Coyotes in regulation.
“Maturity means handling prosperity and handling the lulls,” Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. “Yeah, we won four games in a row, everybody is feeling good, but can we handle the success of it? That’s a key thing. Things are going good, but it can turn. Yeah, you can enjoy the moment, don’t get me wrong, but you have to be able to handle prosperity.”
Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves to get the win.
“We kept with it there and we found a way to win,” Dvorak said. “We like the way we’re playing right now. We’re a confident bunch.”
Tony DeAngelo scored both Rangers goals.
“If you’re not able to get out of your zone in the first five or 10 seconds you’re going to spend a while in your own zone,” Rangers forward Chris Kreider said. “I think it just comes down to giving each other more information and I think that comes with experience, chemistry and time. But we’ve got to start doing it.”
[WATCH: All Coyotes vs. Rangers highlights]
Alexandar Georgiev made 32 saves on the night as the Rangers tightened up on the defense after the dreadful first period effort.
“You can talk all you want about systems and structure, but if you’re not skating, if you’re not moving your feet and playing with an urgency and playing with a pace you can’t play this game and be successful,” Rangers coach David Quinn said. “You just can’t do it. This game is simple but it’s hard. We’re just not doing the basics of what you’re going to need to do to have success right now consistently. Sometimes we do it. More often we don’t right now. You can feel it, we’re in a little bit of a rut and we’ve got to skate and hit our way out of it.”
The Rangers are an anemic 0-4-1 in their last five games and going nowhere fast.
“We were better in the second period and better in the third, but certainly nowhere near where we’re going to need to be if we’re going to have a season. It’s not going to happen overnight. I hope it does. But you’ve just got to dig your way out of it.” Quinn said.
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