The New York Rangers put up a stinker of an effort in Glendale Saturday night against the host Arizona Coyotes.
But, Henrik Lundqvist made 38 saves, most of them highlight reel efforts to backstop a 
2-1 shootout win for New York.
The desert can be a mind numbing place to be but the Rangers had no excuse, needing a win to jump start their long roadie.
“I felt really good,” Lundqvist said. “With the way the first period went, it was a lot of chances and they’re a quick team.
“They have a lot of young guys that are still learning when to go and when to be smart but you can see the skill and the speed and they work hard. They work really hard and we got outworked in the first.”
Former Ranger, Anthony Duclair potted a power play goal in the first period to give the Coyotes a 1-0 lead.
Jimmy Vesey, who has been buzzing for New York the last few weeks stole the puck from Oliver Ekman-Larsson on the boards in the offensive zone, turned and raced to the net, roofing the puck for the tying marker in the middle frame.
“It was tight, it was hard-fought in the third, we got a big penalty kill in overtime and [Lundqvist] played extremely well,” Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault said after the game.
Lundqvist stopped another former Ranger, Derek Stepan in the shootout to get the win.
“A lot of good things done tonight. We just couldn’t find a way in that third period to sneak one by [Lundqvist,.” Stepan said after the loss.
Mika Zibanejad potted the only goal in the skills competition to give the Rangers the win as they improved to 22-14-5.
[WATCH: All Rangers vs. Coyotes highlights]
Another former Ranger, Antti Raanta, made 24 saves in the loss and missed one in the shootout to Zibanejad..
“He has probably 16 different moves so it was kind of tough to decide where he was going to go,” Raanta said. “He has a quick release and he got it top shelf. He has such good hands. He could have easily put it to the five-hole and I wouldn’t have had a chance.”
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