3 Rangers takeaways from rollercoaster night that ended with 5-4 OT win against Wild
There’s a whole lot to unpack from the New York Rangers’ rollercoaster 5-4 overtime win over the Minnesota Wild at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. But really what matters most is that the Rangers snagged two crucial points in their fight to secure a playoff berth in the Eastern Conference.
The resiliency to bounce back from some egregious mistakes and a fairly relentless compete level were hallmarks of this victory, which ties the Rangers in points with the Montreal Canadiens, though Montreal remains in the second wild card since it’s played one less game than New York.
The best example of that resilience is to take a look at the guy who scored the winner in overtime, Vincent Trocheck. He made two critical turnovers that led directly to Wild goals. Yet there he was going to the net to get a stick on Artemi Panarin’s pass to secure that valuable second point in overtime.
There were great sequences, and there were ugly ones for the boys in blue. Just when you thought they had this game, they let it slip away. It was entertaining if you didn’t have a horse in the race. But a bit more angst ridden if you were among the Garden Faithful.
In the end, an important win, their second straight with seven games to go. Next up: a road game in New Jersey against the Devils on Saturday.
Related: Winners, losers from Rangers thrilling OT win against Wild, including K’Andre Miller on both lists
Three Rangers takeaways from 5-4 OT win against Wild
Here are three takeaways from the Rangers crucial OT win at MSG on Wednesday night.
1. Give us Bread
Panarin continues to carry the Rangers on his back down the stretch of the season, perhaps ultimately to a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. A Hart Trophy candidate last season, when he notched 120 points, Panarin is again playing at an elite level when the Rangers need him most this season.
The Breadman had another three points Wednesday, his sixth three-point game this season and 60th since joining the Rangers prior to the 2019-20 season (fifth-most in the NHL in that span). He had a secondary assist on Braden Schneider’s goal to tie the score 1-1 in the first period; scored a breakaway goal late in the second to make it 4-3 Rangers; and made a gorgeous pass to set up Trocheck in overtime for the game-winner.
After scoring 10 goals and posting 20 points in 15 March games, Panarin kept the mojo flowing to start the month of April. Bread is now 11th in the League with 82 points and 12th with 34 goals.
2. Kids are all right
Gabe Perreault logged 13:38 TOI, including 3:01 of power-play time, in his NHL debut for the Rangers. The 19-year-old didn’t look out of place at all, so much so that coach Peter Laviolette had him on the ice in the final ticks of regulation — and the kid almost scored with a quick shot from right wing with seven seconds to go. The 2023 first-round pick finished with three shots on goal and even got in behind the goal line a couple times to engage in puck battles. His future is a bright one.
Speaking of kids, Will Cuylle was named the recipient of the Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award in a pregame ceremony after a vote by the fans. The 23-year-old has 281 hits, second most in the NHL and four shy of Ryan Callahan’s franchise record, after he was credited with three more on Wednesday. Cuylle also displayed that extra effort with two clutch blocked shots against the Wild.
Rookie forward Brennan Othmann nearly scored his first NHL goal, but his slam dunk was denied by Filip Gustavsson by the right post in the second period. The tenacious Othmann kept whacking away at Gustavsson’s pads before the whistle blew, drawing the ire of the Wild as well as a roughing minor against Minnesota’s Matt Boldy. The 22-year-old continues to impact games with his physical play.
3. Powerless
This power play of the Rangers is really difficult to watch. They were 0-for-4 against the Wild, allowed a short-handed goal in the second period, and failed three times in the third when the score was tied and the game hanging in the balance. They generated nothing with a 5-on-3 advantage for 23 seconds in the third.
They are 1-for-26 in the past 10 games on the power play and 2-for-41 since March 3. The Rangers are down to 17.4 percent, 27th in the League, on the season.
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