Stepan Returns but Rangers Fall to Jets

The return of Derek Stepan was not enough for the Rangers Friday night, who dropped their second game in as many nights, 5-2, to the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre.

J.T. Miller and Dan Boyle each scored while Henrik Lundqvist finished with 31 saves in the loss.
Stepan returned after a 10-game absence due to broken ribs he suffered on Nov. 27. He started the night centering Chris Kreider and Jesper Fast, but was later moved as the pivot between Emerson Etem and Rick Nash.

The Rangers struggled at the onset, falling behind early on two Bryan Little goals in the first 7:34 of the contest.

Winnipeg capitalized on a Ryan McDonagh turnover deep in the Rangers' zone when his clear behind the net was knocked down by Blake Wheeler, who fed Little in the slot. The winger waited out Lundqvist, who got caught out of his crease, and fired the puck into the open cage at 5:03. 

Little struck again 2:29 later when he redirected a Wheeler pass from the point into the net. While it was originally declared no goal, it was quickly overturned at the next whistle, putting Winnipeg up two.

The Rangers broke through with just under six minutes to play in the first period. Keith Yandle carried the puck just inside the Winnipeg zone, faked a shot and slid a pass over to Kevin Hayes, who fired the puck on net. Connor Hellebuyck got most, but not all of the shot, and Miller slammed the loose puck into the net to cut the Rangers' deficit to 2-1. The goal was Miller's sixth of the season and his team-leading 12th road point of the year.

But the Jets got back up by two 3:30 later when Dustin Byfuglien blasted a shot from the point that put Winnipeg up 3-1 with 2:29 to play.

The Rangers surived a two-man deficit with Hayes and Nash in the box, and Lundqvist robbed Mark Scheifele on a breakaway to keep the Rangers in the game.

It paid off, as Boyle's third goal of the season on the power play got the Blueshirts back to within one with 5:48 left. Derick Brassard won the offensive zone faceoff cleanly to McDonagh, whose shot from the point was blocked in front and skittered right to Boyle, who fired into the open cage. The goal was Boyle's third goal in his last six games, and he now has five points over that span.

As earlier, the momentum was short-lived, as Winnipeg scored just over two minutes later when Tyler Myers beat Lundqvist top-shelf to get back a two-goal lead, and put the game out of reach.

Andrew Ladd scored an empty-net goal at 18:59.

Prior to the game, the Rangers recalled goaltender Magnus Hellberg and defenseman Chris Summers from Hartford, and sent defenseman Brady Skjei back to the Wolf Pack after two games.

Vigneault said goaltender Antti Raanta was feeling better and is day-to-day with a head injury after taking a slapshot off his mask Thursday in Minnesota.

The Rangers return home Sunday night to take on their Metropolitian Division rival Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden.
By Matt Calamia

FINAL STATS
NY RANGERS 2 WINNIPEG JETS 5
Scoring Summary
1st Period
05:03 WPG Bryan Little (11) Wrist shot - ASST: Blake Wheeler (20) 1 - 0 WPG
07:34 WPG Bryan Little (12) Snap shot - ASST: Blake Wheeler (21), Andrew Ladd (11) 2 - 0 WPG
14:01 NYR J.T. Miller (6) Tip-in - ASST: Kevin Hayes (11), Keith Yandle (17) 2 - 1 WPG
17:31 WPG Dustin Byfuglien (9) Slapshot - ASST: Mark Scheifele (10) 3 - 1 WPG
2nd Period
14:12 NYR PPG - Dan Boyle (3) Snap shot - ASST: Ryan McDonagh (11), Derick Brassard (14) 3 - 2 WPG
16:14 WPG Tyler Myers (3) Snap shot - ASST: Blake Wheeler (22), Bryan Little (15) 4 - 2 WPG
3rd Period
18:59 WPG EN - Andrew Ladd (9) Backhand shot - ASST: Blake Wheeler (23) 5 - 2 WPG

Penalty Summary
1st Period
07:49 NYR Keith Yandle Hooking - 2 min against Mark Scheifele
18:30 WPG Andrew Ladd Tripping - 2 min against Rick Nash
2nd Period
03:25 NYR Kevin Hayes Hooking - 2 min against Nikolaj Ehlers
04:15 NYR Rick Nash Interference - 2 min against Mathieu Perreault
12:46 WPG Andrew Ladd Unsportsmanlike conduct - 2 min against Marc Staal
3rd Period
14:12 NYR Dylan McIlrath Roughing - 2 min against Dustin Byfuglien
14:12 WPG Dustin Byfuglien Roughing - 2 min against Dylan McIlrath 

Shots By Period
Period NYR WPG
1st 9 13
2nd 10 17
3rd 8 6
Total 27 36

Team Stats
Category NYR WPG
Power Plays 1/2 0/3
Hits 25 15
Faceoff Wins 25 31
Giveaways 11 17
Takeaways 3 5
Blocked Shots 14 16
Penalty Minutes 8 6

NEXT GAME: Sunday 12/20 7:00 PM, MSG Network New York Rangers vs Washington Capitals.