Rangers fall Short vs Sabres, Still Reaching for Playoff Berth
@RNYRF Staff Report
A rough night once again as the Rangers dropped their 3rd straight in a row this time to the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 in front of the Garden Faithful. The Rangers who came out strong in the opening period were thwarted again and again by Buffalo Goaltender and former Ranger Chad Johnson. While the Rangers were trying to gain ground to pick up an important 2 points Buffalo took advantage of miscues by the Rangers defense and went to the locker room with a 2-0 lead on back to back goals by Ryan O'Reilly. The home crowd looking for the Rangers to come back strong to open the second period were shocked when Buffalo's Girgensons extended the visitors lead 3-0 just a mere 46 seconds into the middle frame chasing Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist to the bench in favor of backup Antti Raanta, The Rangers cut the Buffalo lead to 3-1 when Jesper Fast clogged up the front of the net and Kevin Hayes was able to put one past Johnson at 2;58 in. Buffalo again extended their lead when Matt Moulson scored the 4th goal for the Sabres at 13:09. Rangers sniper JT Miller cut the Buffalo lead in half with 35 seconds remaining in the second giving hope to a come from behind rally heading into intermission. The Rangers opened the scoring in the third period when Derek Stepan tipped one past Johnson at 4:52 in on a shot by linemate Chris Kreider. In a back and forth period by both teams Johnson and Raanta stood strong. The final nail in the coffin came for the Rangers when they failed to capitalize on a full 2 minute 5 on 3 advantage with just under 12 minutes remaining when both Sabres defensemen were called for minor penalties.
Notes: Henrik Lundqvist faced only 9 shots on goal giving up 3 before he was pulled from the game in favor of Raanta. Buffalo ended a nine-game losing streak to the Rangers and won at the Garden for the first time since March 23, 2012.
The Rangers will once again try to clinch a berth into the 2016 playoffs tomorrow night in Columbus, their final road game of the regular season before returning to home ice for the final 3 games on Tuesday versus Tampa Bay. The last 2 remaining games are Thursday vs The Islanders and the final game on Saturday vs Detroit.
NYR Alumni Birthdays 4/3
Bob Chrystal D (1953-1955) Billy Dea LW (1953-1954)
TODAY IN NYR HISTORY APRIL 3
1928: The Rangers advance to the Stanley Cup Final with a 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins in Game 2 of a total-goals semifinals series.
1937: The Rangers advance to the Stanley Cup Final with a 4-0 win over the Montreal Maroons. Rangers goaltender Dave Kerr doesn't allow a goal in either game of the Rangers' two-game sweep.
2008: The Rangers clinch a playoff berth with a 3-0 win over the Islanders at Nassau Coliseum. Henrik Lundqvist notches his NHL-best 10th shutout of the season.
2012: The Rangers clinch the 2011-12 Atlantic Division title with a 5-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The win is Henrik Lundqvist's career-high 39th.
2013: Derick Brassard, John Moore and Ryane Clowe all score goals in their Rangers debuts in a 6-1 win over Pittsburgh at MSG.
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