Rookies Help Lead The Way To 4-2 Rangers Win
After a tough road trip through
Western Canada the Rangers returned to Madison Square Garden Tuesday
night and skated to their league-best 13th win on home ice, beating the
Edmonton Oilers 4-2. The victory came after an 0-2-1 road trip which
included a 7-5 loss to the Oilers last Friday in Edmonton.
Mats Zuccarello and Rick Nash each scored a goal and added an assist, while Keith Yandle registered a pair of assists and Dylan McIlrath scored the first goal of his National Hockey League career on Tuesday. Henrik Lundqvist made xx saves to backstop the victory.
With Dan Girardi nursing a swollen knee and joining the injured Kevin Klein on the sidelines, rookie defenseman Brady Skjei was recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack and made his NHL debut on Tuesday. Paired mainly at even strength with Yandle, and used on the penalty kill, the team's first round selection in the 2012 NHL Draft played a largely poised and confident game.
The Rangers held one-goal leads after each of the first two periods of play, twice answering back when the Oilers had managed to tie the score during the opening 40 minutes.
Zuccarello scored the only goal of the first period, netting his team-high 14th of the season just 5:04 into play. Yandle froze the defense with a fake of a shot and then quickly dished the puck to his left where Zuccarello collected the pass, skated into the circle, and rifled a shot over the left shoulder of goaltender Anders Nilsson while following forward to the ice.
The Rangers very nearly doubled their lead two minutes later on a nice play by Skjei started in their own end of the rink. The rookie collected a loose puck, sped forward with it and then sprung Nash with a crisp head-man pass. Nash got behind the Oilers defense and broke in on Nilsson, only to be stopped with a sharp pad stop.
Edmonton's Taylor Hall, who scored twice--including the game-winner--and totaled four points against the Rangers last Friday, pulled the Oilers even at 5:12 of the second period. He beat Lundqvist between the pads for his 15th goal from ten feet out with Oscar Lindberg sitting in the Rangers penalty box.
Shortly thereafter the Rangers pulled ahead again on McIlrath's first NHL goal. Dominic Moore won an offensive zone-face off back to Yandle at the right point and Yandle zipped a pass along the blue line to McIlrath on the other side of the ice. McIlrath unleashed a booming slap shot which beat Nilsson cleanly at 7:54, setting off an exuberant reaction from the hulking defenseman.
McIlrath became the first rookie defenseman on the Rangers to score a goal since Ryan McDonagh did so in the final game of the 2010-11 season.
The pesky Oilers struck again, tying the score 2-2 at 18:20 by taking advantage of a turnover by the Rangers other rookie defenseman on the night. Skjei gave the puck up at his blue line to Edmonton's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who quickly sent teammate Jordan Eberle in on a clear path to Lundqvist. Eberle made it look easy, scoring his eighth goal of the season.
Before the period could end, the Rangers were awarded a power play when Edmonton was caught with too many men on the ice at 19:08. It took the Blueshirts only 13 seconds to make the Oilers to pay for their indiscretion.
Zuccarello curled with the puck along the right wall in the offensive zone and spun a pass to an open Nash to the right of Edmonton's net. Nash powered to the net and though his first shot was stopped by Nilsson, he hammered the rebound into the cage, his tenth goal giving New York a 3-2 lead.
Though the two teams combined for only 13 shots in the second period, they combined to score four goals as the Rangers carried a one-goal lead into the final period of regulation.
The Rangers penalty killing unit was put to the test early in the third period, facing three man-disadvantages in the first half of the period, denying Edmonton on each one. Marc Staal was whistled for consecutive penalties before J.T. Miller was sent off for a high-sticking minor at 8:46, but New York killed off each one, with both McIlrath and Skjei playing key roles on the team's PK unit.
On the night New York killed off five of six Oiler power play.
Jesper Fast put the game away with an empty net goal with 3.2 seconds left to play.
YOUR NY RANGERS 3 STARS OF THE GAME
1. RICK NASH
2. MATS ZUCCARELLO
3. DYLAN McILRATH
Dylan McIlrath with his first NHL Goal Puck, And also gets the Broadway Hat
Mats Zuccarello and Rick Nash each scored a goal and added an assist, while Keith Yandle registered a pair of assists and Dylan McIlrath scored the first goal of his National Hockey League career on Tuesday. Henrik Lundqvist made xx saves to backstop the victory.
With Dan Girardi nursing a swollen knee and joining the injured Kevin Klein on the sidelines, rookie defenseman Brady Skjei was recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack and made his NHL debut on Tuesday. Paired mainly at even strength with Yandle, and used on the penalty kill, the team's first round selection in the 2012 NHL Draft played a largely poised and confident game.
The Rangers held one-goal leads after each of the first two periods of play, twice answering back when the Oilers had managed to tie the score during the opening 40 minutes.
Zuccarello scored the only goal of the first period, netting his team-high 14th of the season just 5:04 into play. Yandle froze the defense with a fake of a shot and then quickly dished the puck to his left where Zuccarello collected the pass, skated into the circle, and rifled a shot over the left shoulder of goaltender Anders Nilsson while following forward to the ice.
The Rangers very nearly doubled their lead two minutes later on a nice play by Skjei started in their own end of the rink. The rookie collected a loose puck, sped forward with it and then sprung Nash with a crisp head-man pass. Nash got behind the Oilers defense and broke in on Nilsson, only to be stopped with a sharp pad stop.
Edmonton's Taylor Hall, who scored twice--including the game-winner--and totaled four points against the Rangers last Friday, pulled the Oilers even at 5:12 of the second period. He beat Lundqvist between the pads for his 15th goal from ten feet out with Oscar Lindberg sitting in the Rangers penalty box.
Shortly thereafter the Rangers pulled ahead again on McIlrath's first NHL goal. Dominic Moore won an offensive zone-face off back to Yandle at the right point and Yandle zipped a pass along the blue line to McIlrath on the other side of the ice. McIlrath unleashed a booming slap shot which beat Nilsson cleanly at 7:54, setting off an exuberant reaction from the hulking defenseman.
McIlrath became the first rookie defenseman on the Rangers to score a goal since Ryan McDonagh did so in the final game of the 2010-11 season.
The pesky Oilers struck again, tying the score 2-2 at 18:20 by taking advantage of a turnover by the Rangers other rookie defenseman on the night. Skjei gave the puck up at his blue line to Edmonton's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who quickly sent teammate Jordan Eberle in on a clear path to Lundqvist. Eberle made it look easy, scoring his eighth goal of the season.
Before the period could end, the Rangers were awarded a power play when Edmonton was caught with too many men on the ice at 19:08. It took the Blueshirts only 13 seconds to make the Oilers to pay for their indiscretion.
Zuccarello curled with the puck along the right wall in the offensive zone and spun a pass to an open Nash to the right of Edmonton's net. Nash powered to the net and though his first shot was stopped by Nilsson, he hammered the rebound into the cage, his tenth goal giving New York a 3-2 lead.
Though the two teams combined for only 13 shots in the second period, they combined to score four goals as the Rangers carried a one-goal lead into the final period of regulation.
The Rangers penalty killing unit was put to the test early in the third period, facing three man-disadvantages in the first half of the period, denying Edmonton on each one. Marc Staal was whistled for consecutive penalties before J.T. Miller was sent off for a high-sticking minor at 8:46, but New York killed off each one, with both McIlrath and Skjei playing key roles on the team's PK unit.
On the night New York killed off five of six Oiler power play.
Jesper Fast put the game away with an empty net goal with 3.2 seconds left to play.
YOUR NY RANGERS 3 STARS OF THE GAME
1. RICK NASH
2. MATS ZUCCARELLO
3. DYLAN McILRATH
Dylan McIlrath with his first NHL Goal Puck, And also gets the Broadway Hat
POST GAME WRAP UP: FINAL GAME STATS
NY RANGERS 4 EDMONTON OILERS 2
Scoring Summary
1st Period
05:04 NYR Mats Zuccarello (14) Snap shot - ASST: Keith Yandle (15), Rick Nash (13) 1 - 0 NYR
2nd Period
05:12 EDM PPG - Taylor Hall (15) Wrist shot - ASST: Leon Draisaitl (18), Teddy Purcell (14) 1 - 1 Tie
07:54 NYR Dylan McIlrath (1) Slapshot - ASST: Keith Yandle (16), Dominic Moore (3) 2 - 1 NYR
18:20 EDM Jordan Eberle (8) Wrist shot - ASST: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (15) 2 - 2 Tie
19:21 NYR PPG - Rick Nash (10) Wrist shot - ASST: Mats Zuccarello (13), Derick Brassard (13) 3 - 2 NYR
3rd Period
19:56 NYR EN - Jesper Fast (5) Wrist shot - ASST: Dominic Moore (4), Viktor Stalberg (6) 4 - 2 NYR
Penalty Summary
1st Period
02:08 NYR Oscar Lindberg Hooking - 2 min against Nikita Nikitin
10:30 EDM Taylor Hall Tripping - 2 min against Derick Brassard
14:20 NYR Dylan McIlrath Hi-sticking - 2 min against Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
2nd Period
04:37 NYR Oscar Lindberg Hooking - 2 min against Lauri Korpikoski
05:41 EDM Andrej Sekera Hooking - 2 min against Rick Nash
19:08 EDM Luke Gazdic Too many men/ice - bench - 2 min
3rd Period
02:40 NYR Marc Staal Slashing - 2 min against Anton Lander
05:03 NYR Marc Staal Hi-sticking - 2 min against Leon Draisaitl
08:46 NYR J.T. Miller Hi-sticking - 2 min against Eric Gryba
12:49 EDM Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Holding - 2 min against Dan Boyle
14:25 EDM Anton Lander Slashing - 2 min against Kevin Hayes
shots by period
Period EDM NYR
1st 6 9
2nd 7 6
3rd 7 6
Total 20 21
Team Stats
Category EDM NYR
Power Plays 1/6 1/5
Hits 20 27
Faceoff Wins 24 27
Giveaways 8 18
Takeaways 6 13
Blocked Shots 16 23
Penalty Minutes 10 12
NEXT GAME: Thursday 12/17 8:00 PM. The NY Rangers take on Jarett Stoll and his new teammates the Minnesota Wild.
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