NEW YORK – Madison Square Garden was buzzing.
The Rangers put three of their first five shots past Dallas’ Jake Oettinger, while American countryman Jonathan Quick was turning back time in the Blueshirts’ net. But what should have been a building block in the Rangers’ playoff push ended ugly once again.
After squandering a three-goal lead, the Rangers traded goals in the third period before losing 5-4 in overtime on Jamie Benn’s powerplay winner.
A stretch of nine losses in 12 games has the Rangers one point out of last with the midpoint of the season approaching Thursday.
“It’s frustrating,” defenseman Adam Fox said. “I think we have been playing a lot better hockey but at the end you got to get two points out of it. One is better than zero, but it definitely should have been two points tonight.”
Defensive breakdowns have been a concern throughout the season for the Rangers, who’ve allowed the third most shots per game.
Those issues did not get any better on Tuesday while facing a Dallas team that came in winners of four straight and with the top Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Quick made 34 saves and battled hard around the crease, but fell just short in his bid to become the first American goalie to reach 400 wins.
“It’s five guys just maybe a little off, whether it’s one guy thinking another guy is going to go,” Fox said. “I think lack of communication is a big thing there. I think we obviously want to create chances but at the same time, you don’t want it to come back the other way right at you with 4-on-3’s, 3-on-2’s or 2-on-1’s.”
First line sparkles
There were plenty of positives to take away for the Rangers (18-20-2), including the play of their top line.
Alexis Lafrenière snapped a 13-game goalless drought by lighting the lamp twice in the first period, starting with a rip off the rush on a feed from Artemi Panarin. Lafrenière tied a season-high with six shots, landed three hits and finished +2.
The Rangers also broke a 1-for-31 streak on the powerplay when Vincent Trocheck deflected in his second goal of the night. It staked his team to a short-lived, 4-3 lead about halfway through the third period. And while the Rangers were caved in for large stretches, they more than doubled the Stars in even-strength shot attempts (22-10) when their top forward trio was on the ice.
“I thought that they were good most of the night,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “They generated a lot. They were dialed into the game and created a lot of chances and scored a lot of goals for us.”
Dallas chipped away at the 3-0 hole, with Matt Duchene and Evgenii Dadonov scoring back-to-back goals late in the first period and Jason Robertson knotting it up on a nifty wraparound in the second. Thomas Harley sent the game to overtime with his shot with 2:39 remaining.
“My fault on the fourth goal,” Trocheck said. “It doesn’t really mean anything if you don’t win the game. I got to clean that up.”
The challenge for the Rangers now is the going doesn’t get much easier. New York will host the Devils on Thursday before embarking on a three-game road trip that opens with Vegas and Colorado. And hours after placing Chris Kreider on IR, the Rangers saw forward Filip Chytil leave the game to be evaluated for an upper-body injury.
“Everyone knows our situation right now but again we still have chances and we’re in a battle for the playoffs,” said Panarin, who took a hooking penalty in overtime.
“It’s a good thing. We have to keep trying every time. Tomorrow is a new day.”
Help on the way
With the Rangers coming off a win, Laviolette decided to keep the same lineup from Sunday rather than throw Arthur Kaliyev into the fire a day after getting claimed off waivers.
However, the Staten Island native who came over from the Los Angeles Kings made his unofficial debut on Tuesday morning at pregame skate. The 23-year-forward is known for his shoot-first mentality and he’s hoping a fresh start in Manhattan can help unlock the potential he showed as a 2019 second-round pick.
“It was unexpected, obviously,” Kaliyev said. “But it’s kind of like a dream come true. I grew up watching and obviously living down here for a long time. I didn’t expect it but I was so excited.”
At 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, Kaliyev will add size and some offensive upside after spending parts of four seasons with the Kings. He notched 71 points (35 goals, 36 assists) in 188 games with LA, but still hasn’t appeared in an NHL game this year after breaking his clavicle during training camp. During a five-game conditioning stint with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, Kaliyev registered one goal and one assist.
“He’s got a heavy shot and he’s capable when the puck is on his stick,” Laviolette said.
“A young player. He’s big, he’s strong. New opportunity for him. We got him out on the ice for the first time and we’ll see how he fits in.”
