NEW YORK (NY) – Down two defenseman and their starting goalie, the New York Rangers hosted and defeated the reigning Western Conference champs 7-4 in New York on Monday night. Antti Raanta got the nod, giving Henrik Lundqvist the night off as he made 27 saves in his first appearance of the season. San Jose net minder Martin Jones received his first loss of the season, stopping just 22 shots.
“It’s a big win for us. They’re a very good team,” said Kreider who tallied a goal and an assist in his third straight game.
After a relatively slow start for both teams, Blueshirts defenseman Marc Staal opened up the scoring at 12:06 in the first on a one-timer from a feed by Derek Stepan. Late in the first, two Rangers would take penalties in a minute to give the Sharks a 5-on-3 where center Logan Couture would capitalize to tie the game at one a piece after 20 minutes.
In the second period Rick Nash would get on the board for the first time this year for the go ahead, while Kreider recorded his third goal in as many games with an absolute snipe shot from the left hashmarks.
After San Jose defenseman Brent Burns notched his second goal of the year mid way through the third, the Rangers would strike back scoring two goals in 21 seconds. The latter goal would come from Hobey Baker winner Jimmy Vesey, tallying his first career goal.
“Definitely just pure joy,” Vesey said of his goal. “I think I expressed it a little on the ice. I think I gave two fist pumps.”
Now up 5-2 late in the third, the resilient Sharks pressed hard and scored two goals in 94 seconds to cut the lead to one.
Mats Zuccarello and Michael Grabner would each add empty net goals to give the Rangers their second win of the season with a robust score of 7-4.
“They’re the Stanley Cup finalist and they had one of the best road records last year, so we knew they were going to have a push; made it an exciting game,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said.
The Sharks next game will be tonight at the Islanders at 7pm.
The Rangers next tilt will be at home against the Detroit Red Wings at 8pm on NBCSports.
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