RANGERS DEFEAT WILD 4-2 POST GAME RECAP

Rangers Rally For Wild 4-2 Come-From-Behind Victory

COURTESY BLUESHIRTS UNITED

Thursday night at Madison Square Garden the Rangers spotted the Minnesota Wild a 2-0 lead and then roared back to secure an important come-from-behind 4-2 victory, their fourth in the past six games overall, and first in two games since returning from the All Star break.
Derick Brassard snapped a 2-2 tie by scoring his team-leading 18th goal at 5:46 of the third period, giving New York its first lead of the night. Ryan McDonagh helped create an offensive-zone turnover and J.T. Miller followed with a quick pass into the slot where a wide-open Brassard calmly beat Minnesota goalie Devyn Dubnyk.
Brassard, who also had an assist in the game, has recorded eight points (3-5-8) in his current three-game point-scoring streak. Miller and McDonagh also scored for New York and, like Brassard, notched a pair of points in Thursday's win.
Chris Kreider scored into the empty net with 1:48 remaining in regulation to ice the victory for New York.
Henrik Lundqvist made 16 saves to pick up the win, facing only 11 shots over the final two periods of play.
The Rangers and Minnesota began the third period tied 2-2 after playing two totally opposite periods--the first controlled by the Wild who raced to a two-goal lead, the second dominated by New York as the Blueshirts rallied to pull even.
The start of the game could not have gone much better for the visitors, nor much worse for the Rangers who were coming off Tuesday's frustrating 3-2 loss in New Jersey. The Wild led 2-0 after just 7 minutes 57 seconds of play and recorded six of the game's first seven shots on goal as the Blueshirts struggled mightily to find their collective footing.
Minnesota's Ryan Carter opened the scoring at 2:09 of the first, beating Lundqvist on a clean breakaway after blocking a Marc Staal shot at the opposite blue line. Then with Staal in the penalty box for an interference minor, the Wild struck again as Matt Dumba drilled a one-timer short side past Lundqvist at the 7:57 mark of the opening period.
To the Rangers credit they regrouped after that second goal and proceeded to record six of the final seven shots in the period, spurred by a much more consistent fore check. They carried that momentum into the second period, one in which they outshot Minnesota in a stark turnaround, 17-4, and had the game tied before five minutes had elapsed.
A terrific second effort by McDonagh got New York on the board at 3:15 of the second. Mats Zuccarello found McDonagh in the slot, but McDonagh first had to win a pair of stick battles before zipping his seventh goal past Dubnyk and bringing The Garden crowd to its feet.
Eighty seconds later the red-hot Miller tied the score by netting his 16th goal of the season, and eighth in the past eight games. Stationed behind the Wild net Brassard saucered a pass towards the left circle where Miller one-timed it far side past Dubnyk, extending his goal-scoring streak to three consecutive games with his fourth goal in that span.
On the next shift Dubnyk robbed Oscar Lindberg from point-blank range while sprawled on the ice; and the Wild's All Star netminder kept his badly-outplayed team in the game the remainder of the period with several other big saves.
The Rangers continued to throw a defensive blanket over the Wild once the third period started, and then grabbed their first lead of the night on Brassard's goal at 5:46.
Once again the Rangers played without the injured Rick Nash, who sat out his fourth consecutive game with a bad bone bruise in his left leg. He was joined on the sidelines by defenseman Kevin Klein who missed his first game with a fractured right thumb, though Klein was able to participate fully in the team's morning skate on Thursday.
Dylan McIlrath played an effective game while replacing Klein in the lineup. He was joined in the lineup by forward Jayson Megna, who was recalled from the Hartford Wolf Pack on Wednesday and took the spot of Tanner Glass who was a healthy scratch.
The Rangers hit the road for their next contest, an important divisional clash with the Flyers down in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon.
Jim Cerny
BlueshirtsUnited.com


FINAL STATS
 NEW YORK RANGER 4 MINNESOTA WILD 2

Scoring Summary
1st Period
02:09 MIN Ryan Carter (5) Slapshot - ASST: NONE 1 - 0 MIN
07:57 MIN PPG - Matt Dumba (6) Slapshot - ASST: Mikael Granlund (22), Ryan Suter (26) 2 - 0 MIN
2nd Period
03:15 NYR Ryan McDonagh (7) Wrist shot - ASST: Mats Zuccarello (18), Derek Stepan (13) 2 - 1 MIN
04:35 NYR J.T. Miller (16) Snap shot - ASST: Derick Brassard (21), Dan Girardi (10) 2 - 2 Tie
3rd Period
05:46 NYR Derick Brassard (18) Wrist shot - ASST: J.T. Miller (13), Ryan McDonagh (19) 3 - 2 NYR
18:12 NYR EN - Chris Kreider (10) Wrist shot - ASST: Mats Zuccarello (19) 4 - 2 NYR

Penalty Summary
1st Period
06:08 NYR Marc Staal Interference - 2 min against Zach Parise
18:40 NYR Viktor Stalberg Hooking - 2 min against Nino Niederreiter
2nd Period
06:01 MIN Ryan Suter Hi-sticking - 2 min against Jesper Fast
09:01 NYR Derek Stepan Hi-sticking - 2 min against Jason Pominville
10:58 MIN Nino Niederreiter Slashing - 2 min against Dylan McIlrath
3rd Period
01:27 MIN Marco Scandella Interference - 2 min against Viktor Stalberg

shots by period
Period MIN NYR
1st 7 7
2nd 4 17
3rd 7 6
Total 18 30

Team Stats
Category MIN NYR
Power Plays 1/3 0/3
Hits 19 19
Faceoff Wins 27 23
Giveaways 8 6
Takeaways 3 8
Blocked Shots 16 11
Penalty Minutes 6 6

NEW YORK RANGERS 3 STARS OF THE GAME
1. JT MILLER
2. DERICK BRASSARD
3. RYAN McDONAGH

NYR BROADWAY HAT:
RANGERS CAPTAIN RYAN McDONAGH

NEXT GAME: 
Saturday February 6 1:00 PM New York Rangers @ Philadelphia Flyers