It’s hard to wrap your arms around the game between the New York Rangers and Oilers i Edmonton on Tuesday.
The old adage of needing to play a full 60-minute game went out the window.
The Oilers took a 6-0 lead in the middle frame and then nearly saw the entire effort go for naught as the Rangers rallied for five straight goals to cut the score to 6-5 late in the third period.
James Neal had a hat trick in the win.
“At the end of the day, we won the game and we’ll never turn down two points,” Neal said. “You just move on and take the positives out of the game. I thought the first two periods were really good, our special teams were good, and I really liked our start and the way we played in the first. Obviously our mind wandered and we kind of got ahead of ourselves in the third. It’s a fast league and that’s what happens sometimes.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Josh Archibald and Leon Draisaitl had single markers in the six-goal run for the Oilers.
Mikko Koskinen made 28 saves in the win
Chris Kreider got the Rangers’ rally started with a late second period goal.
“They were hungrier than us at the beginning and they started the game up 3-0 and they got a couple of power-play goals in the second,” Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said. “I thought we played better in the last 10 minutes of the second and we got that goal [late in second] and went from there. It was not the way to go and not the way to put yourself in a good situation. You have to learn and try to take the good things from the third and move on.”
Ryan Strome scored early in the third period to keep the energy going for New York.
“That second period, obviously, goes a little sideways with all the penalties,” Kreider said. “Early in the year in a situation like that we stretch it out and cheat for offense a little bit and try to win the game on every play [but] I think we got back to things we were doing well in that last 20 minutes and we were able to claw our way back into that game.”
Marc Staal, Artemi Panarin and Zibanejad scored to get the Rangers within one.
“I think we showed a lot of characteristics you need to have success,” Rangers head coach David Quinn said. “You just can’t have the start that we had, that’s obvious, we just weren’t ready to play. But to have the wherewithal to turn it on the way we did — even in the second period I thought we did a lot of good things — and then the penalty exchange where we thought we were going to go on a power play and all of sudden we’re killing [a penalty], that really took the wind out of our sails. Things kind of unraveled a little bit, but we get that goal at the end of the second and kept playing.”
All that may be true, but the Rangers need something akin to on-ice leadership that only a veteran scorer can provide. There is plenty of talent on this roster, but it is young and the inepexerience is being tested and abused too often.
Kailer Yamamoto snapped the Rangers’ run with an empty goal with just over a minute left on the clock.
[WATCH: All Rangers vs. Oilers highlights]
Alexandar Georgiev got the start and was abused by the Oilers for six goals on just 24 shots.
“We knew they were a bit of a fragile team that’s been reeling a little bit. We get one, we get two and … then we took advantage of it. It was good for our group,” Staal said.
Henrik Lundqvist made six saves in the third period.
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