In New York, the Rangers got past their loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night with a 4-3 win over the visiting Buffalo Sabres ahead of the holiday break.
It was anything but pretty, with Chris Kreider scoring the winning goal midway through an extra session.
Mika Zibanejad took the below the goal line on the left side and backhanded a nifty pass to Kreider in the low slot for the tap in.
“[Zibanejad] pump-faked every single person in the building and used me as a backboard,” Kreider said.
The Sabres made extra time necessary when Casey Mittelstadt scored at 6:50 of the third period to tie the game, 3-3.
“It’s a crazy atmosphere and it’s a tough building to play in,” Mittelstadt said. “Obviously would have liked to get the extra point there, but I thought we played really well. … I thought we did a good job and obviously to be down in the third and get a point, is huge.”
Igor Shesterkin’ made 27 saves for the win, he was adequate in regulation time, but stopped three dangerous shots from the Sabres prior to the game-winner.
“There was a lot to like about tonight, the way we played the game,” New York coach Peter Laviolette said. “Especially coming off of last night (a 4-3 loss at home to the Edmonton Oilers), too. To put that to bed and then to wake up and play the way we did, the right mindset right from the start, was really good.
The Rangers improved to 23-8-1.
The Rangers took a 2-0 lead in the first period.
Ryan Lindgren scored his second of the season on a shot from the blueline, through traffic, for a 1-0 lead at 7:19.
Artemi Panarin hit off the power play at 15:35 for a 2-0 advantage to New York.
Buffalo dropped to 14-17-4.
“[There’s] a lot more playing for the pure love of the game and enjoy the game, the energy, that appetite,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “You know there’s more for you and going after it. No question, the last couple of games have been much, much better and I feel very confident that this group is headed [in] the right direction.”
In typical Ranger fashion, they surrendered that lead to Buffalo.
Rasmus Dahlin scored at 16:37 to trim the deficit to 2-1 headed to the second period.
The Sabres’ Jack Quinn tied it, 2-2, at 1:42 of the middle frame.
Zibanejad, who was maligned for much of the early season, scored at 7:13 of the second to reclaim the lead, 3-2, for the Rangers.
“Mika, he was incredible out there tonight,” Laviolette said. “The way he drove through the neutral zone, attacked the game, constantly attacked the game. The whole line. It was really good.”
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 29 saves in the loss.
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