In San Jose, the infuriating New York Rangers found their long-lost offense in a 6-5 win over the Sharks Thursday.
After playing themselves into a playoff position several weeks back, the Rangers have gone into the tank and had lost three straight on the road.
Ryan McDonagh struck twice, his first two goals of the season, in the win.
“It’s huge,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. “But six goals on the road is not something you’re going to get on a regular basis. But there’s no doubt that having [McDonagh] score his first two tonight, that was important for our team. And to have Brady step up and get that shorthanded one.
“We’ll take the two points, go on an All-Star break and get ready for after the break.”
Ondrej Pavelec made 23 saves to pick up the win as the Rangers overcame a 2-1 deficit to roll to 5-3 and 6-4 leads.
Logan Couture scored two goals in the loss as the Sharks were caught off gaurd but an energized Rangers squad.
“Just bad defensive hockey,” Couture said. “Don’t know if we’re cheating there for offense, but we gave them way too much.”
Barclay Goodrow, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Tomas Hertl also scored for the Sharks who cut their deficit to 6-5 with a late goal.
Kevin Hayes and Jesper Fast, Brady Skjei, and J.T. Miller also scored for the Rangers.
“We needed a win,” Vigneault said. “After another good start, we were able to have a real strong second period, and I think that was the difference in tonight’s game.”
Miller added two assists a game after being benched in the first period of a loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
“It’s amazing sometimes, you sit back and look at how simple you have to play,” Miller said. “That’s when the ice seems to open up. When you stop your feet, keep looking for plays and making something out of nothing is when you get yourself in trouble.”
New York improved to 25-20-5 with the win.
“I’ll be honest, I got nothing to do with the win tonight. The guys battled so hard, scored six goals. It would be kind of a crime to lose the game with the six goals on the road. It was one of those games I couldn’t make that save, I couldn’t help the guys to kind of take a breath and then regroup,” Pavelec said after the win.
[WATCH:Â All Rangers vs. Sharks highlights]
Aaron Dell made 23 saves in taking the loss.
“It was a pretty sloppy game in general. There were chances at both ends. We could have scored 10, and they could have scored 10 as well,” Vlasic said after the game.
You must be logged in to post a comment.