NEW YORK RANGERS AT DALLAS STARS POST GAME RECAP

Rangers Close Trip With Thrilling 3-2 Win In Dallas

Saturday afternoon in Dallas the Rangers closed out a difficult, yet ultimately successful, road trip with a 3-2 victory over the Western Conference-leading Stars. The win came on the heels of Thursday's 2-1 victory over the Blues in St. Louis and made New York a winner in four of its last five games overall.
Henrik Lundqvist again was a difference maker in the nets for the Rangers, finishing with 36 saves. It was the eighth time in his last ten starts where Lundqvist held the opposition to two goals or fewer.
Ryan McDonagh snapped a 1-1 tie and provided the Rangers their second lead of the afternoon by scoring his eighth goal at 8:26 of the third period. With Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen out of position and scrambling to find his positioning after making a save on an Oscar Lindberg shot, McDonagh collected the loose puck and whipped a backhand shot from right wing off of Lehtonen and over the goal line to put the Rangers back in the lead.
Dallas very nearly tied the score a minute later off a scramble in Lundqvist's crease when Jason Spezza poked the puck to the goal line and McDonagh slid with his legs out stopping the shot. The on-ice call by the officials was that no goal had been scored, and the video review was ruled inconclusive, setting off an unpenalized tirade at the offials by Stars coach Lindy Ruff.
The Stars eventually did tie the game, with just 4:01 remaining in regulation. Lundqvist was unable to stop a Valeri Nichushkin left-wing slap shot that ticked off the stick of Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi.
However a bit more than a minute later Kevin Klein put the Rangers back ahead, 3-2, at 17:07, rifling a shot from between the circles past Lehtonen after collecting the puck when Derek Stepan's shot was blocked in front. Klein's sixth goal proved to be the game-winner.
After a scoreless first period, the Rangers and Stars swapped goals in the middle stanza, and justly arrived at the second intermission tied 1-1 in an evenly-played game.
The Rangers received the game's first power play 4:34 of the second period and it took them just four seconds to open the scoring. Derick Brassard won the offensive-zone face off back to Keith Yandle, who proceeded to fire a shot towards the Dallas net. Chris Kreider, stationed in front of Lehtonen, deflected the puck between the Dallas netminder's pads and into the cage for his 13th goal of the season, and second in as many games following his third-period game-winning tally Thursday night in St. Louis.
Dallas pulled even at 9:08 of the second when Colton Sceviour banged in a rebound after Lundqvist had made a sharp pad save on Tyler Seguin's quick snap shot.
Less than two minutes later Lundqvist made a terrific right-pad stop to rob Seguin on a point-blank put back from ten feet out. Earlier in the game Lundqvist had stopped Nichushkin twice on breakaways.
Lundqvist also got some help 3:45 into the second when he was handcuffed on high left-wing shot, ultimately dropping the puck in the blue paint before teammates Kevin Klein and Oscar Lindberg pounced on the loose disc and helped Lundqvist cover up before the Stars could reach the puck.
Many of the Rangers best scoring chances at the other end of the ice failed to even register shots on goal. Late in the first period Yandle set up Dominic Moore alone in front of the Dallas net with a slick pass, and after Moore drew Lehtonen to the ice he never got a shot off as Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak denied his seemingly open path to the cage. Then at 17:10 of the first J.T. Miller patiently slid back into the right wing circle before snapping a shot off the far post.
In the second period Kreider and Jesper Fast--playing with a full face shield after breaking his nose in practice on Friday--broke in on a two on one, but Fast was unable to tee up Kreider's saucer pass. Then at the ten-minute mark Mats Zuccarello shot wide on an open putback attempt. Four minutes later Derek Stepan stole the puck in the offensive zone, cut to the net, and before he could get a shot off, was knocked off the puck by Dallas' Jordie Benn.
The NHL trading deadline arrives at 3:00 Monday afternoon, and later that evening the Rangers will host the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden.

Jim Cerny
BlueshirtsUnited.com

CONGRATULATIONS MARC STAAL ON PLAYING HIS 600th NHL GAME

FINAL STATS

 
NY RANGERS 3 DALLAS STARS 2
SOG: NYR 28 DAL 38
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
NONE
2nd Period
04:38    NYR    Chris Kreider (13) Tip-in - ASST: Keith Yandle (31), Derick Brassard (24)     1 - 0 NYR
09:08    DAL    Colton Sceviour (7) Wrist shot - ASST: Tyler Seguin (36), Radek Faksa (3)     1 - 1 Tie
3rd Period
08:26    NYR    Ryan McDonagh (8) Backhand shot - ASST: Oscar Lindberg (14), Viktor Stalberg (9)     2 - 1 NYR
15:59    DAL    Valeri Nichushkin (8) Slapshot - ASST: Colton Sceviour (8), John Klingberg (43)     2 - 2 Tie
17:07    NYR    Kevin Klein (6) Wrist shot - ASST: Derek Stepan (17), Jesper Fast (14)     3 - 2 NYR
PENALTY SUMMARY
1st Period
20:00    NYR    Tanner Glass  Roughing  - 2 min against  Patrick Sharp
20:00    DAL    Patrick Sharp  Cross checking  - 2 min against  Tanner Glass
2nd Period
04:34    DAL    Jason Demers  Delay of game  - 2 min
18:03    DAL    Cody Eakin  Hooking  - 2 min against  Tanner Glass
3rd Period
NONE
FINAL TEAM STATS
Category    NYR    DAL
Power Plays    1/3    0/0
Hits    20    25
Faceoff Wins    29    35
Giveaways    11    9
Takeaways    4    9
Blocked Shots    26    18
Penalty Minutes    2    6


THREE STARS OF THE GAME
1. HENRIK LUNDQVIST NYR
2. Colton Sceviour DAL
3. RYAN McDONAGH NYR

NEXT GAME:
The Rangers return to action on NHL Trade Deadline Day Monday February 29th as the take on the Columbus Blue Jackets 7:00 PM at Madison Square Garden.