A wild third period did not go the Rangers' way Wednesday night in Vancouver, and as a result they opened up their three-game road trip to Western Canada with a very frustrating 2-1 loss to the Canucks.
A scoreless game largely controlled by the Rangers through 40 minutes took a strange turn early in the third period when a string of penalties--including one against Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault--swung the game's momentum in favor of the home team.
Dominic Moore was whistled for a hooking penalty at 1:32 and then Jarret Stoll was called for a delay of game penalty when he layed on the ice in his own end with the puck caught up underneath him at 2:57. Vancouver's Alex Edler scored during the 5 on 3 power play, and Vigneault was then penalized immediately after for clapping his hands in a nod to the officials' curious call on Stoll which created the two-man disadvantage.
Before things could get any better, Ryan McDonagh was sent to the box for high-sticking Alex Burrows in front of the Rangers net at 3:59, leaving the Rangers two men down for an even longer extended period. Burrows then was penalized for interference at 4:43, and somehow when all the smoke had cleared the Rangers had killed off all of the penalties and trailed only 1-0.
The crazy doings of period number three continued at 8:54 when Vancouver defenseman Chris Tanev covered the puck in the Canucks crease and the Rangers were awarded a penalty shot. Dan Boyle patiently skated in on Canucks goalie Ryan Miller and put the puck in the back of the net for his first goal of the season and the first penalty shot goal of his 1042-game NHL career, tying the score 1-1.
However Vancouver answered right back on the very next shift when Daniel Sedin buried an Edler pass to the side of Henrik Lundqvist's cage, again putting the Rangers in a one-goal hole at 9:24.
Boyle very nearly tied the game again four minutes later, but his left-wing power play blast caught iron behind Miller, and the Rangers subsequently failed on their fourth power play of the night.
Through two periods the Rangers had consistently carried the play to the Canucks, but despite a 23-14 shots advantage and a disparity in their favor of 46-24 in shots attempted, the Rangers found themselves in a scoreless tie.
Three times the Rangers came ever so close to breaking through against Miller, but for three different reasons they were held off the scoreboard. At the 3:26 mark of the second period McDonagh's left wing shot was tipped by Dan Girardi and the puck caught the cross bar before sailing out of play. Then at 15:07, with Miller down on the ice, Keith Yandle made a slick feed from the slot to a seemingly wide-open Kevin Hayes at the left side of the net; but Hayes' shot just glanced off the skate blade of Vancouver's back-checking Jared McCann and the puck deflected just wide of the gaping cage.
J.T. Miller actually did find the back of the net, beating Miller on a power play deflection of Yandle's slap shot, but the goal clearly came after the horn sounded ending the second period and did not count.
FINAL SCORE SHEET
NY RANGERS 1 VANCOUVER CANUCKS 2
Scoring Summary
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
NONE
3rd Period
03:19 VAN PPG - Alexander Edler (6) Wrist shot - ASST: Daniel Sedin (20), Henrik Sedin (19) 1 - 0 VAN
08:54 NYR PS - Dan Boyle (1) Wrist shot - ASST: NONE 1 - 1 Tie
09:24 VAN Daniel Sedin (13) Wrist shot - ASST: Alexander Edler (11), Henrik Sedin (20) 2 - 1 VAN
Penalty Summary
1st Period
18:10 NYR Ryan McDonagh Holding - 2 min against Henrik Sedin
2nd Period
01:39 VAN Alexander Edler Holding - 2 min against Mats Zuccarello
02:30 NYR Oscar Lindberg Hooking - 2 min against Chris Higgins
11:12 VAN Dan Hamhuis Slashing - 2 min against J.T. Miller
18:29 VAN Dan Hamhuis Holding the stick - 2 min against Tanner Glass
3rd Period
01:32 NYR Dominic Moore Hooking - 2 min against Henrik Sedin
02:57 NYR Jarret Stoll Delaying the game - 2 min
03:19 NYR Chris Kreider Unsportsmanlike conduct - 2 min
03:59 NYR Ryan McDonagh Hi-sticking - 2 min against Alexandre Burrows
04:43 VAN Alexandre Burrows Interference - 2 min against Marc Staal
08:54 VAN Christopher Tanev PS-Covering puck in crease - 0 min
12:27 VAN Alexandre Burrows Delay of game - 2 min
shots by period
Period NYR VAN
1st 15 7
2nd 8 7
3rd 10 11
Total 33 25
Team Stats
Category NYR VAN
Power Plays 0/4 1/6
Hits 11 9
Faceoff Wins 27 26
Giveaways 7 5
Takeaways 4 4
Blocked Shots 13 16
Penalty Minutes 12 10
NEXT GAME: Friday 9:30 PM Game Start. The Rangers take on Edmonton on Glen Sather Night.
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