Coming off a 2-1 shootout victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the New York Rangers were set to have a back-to-back set and wanted to start it off with a bang. Their first opponent? Their Hudson River rivals in the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Saturday afternoon.
Antti Raanta started in net for the blueshirts while Henrik Lundqvist will get the call in Sunday’s MSG matchup against Columbus. The Rangers had a strong first period, and despite being outshot 15-10, the team led 2-0 on goals from Chris Kreider and Oscar Lindberg, feeling really good about themselves.
New Jersey scored in the second on a goal from Adam Henrique that made it 2-1. The Rangers seemed to have slowed down a bit in the middle frame, losing a bit of that energy and spark they had earlier.
The third period proved to be the most intense, intriguing, and wild one of all three. Not even five minutes into the final frame, the Devils went from trailing 2-1, to taking a 3-2 lead, stunning the hoards of Rangers fans in Prudential Center. Thankfully, some life was found and with a little over 4 minutes left of the game, defenseman Adam Clendening tied the game at 3 to send the game into overtime. At just 1:16 in, center Mika Zibanejad fired a slap shot past Cory Schneider and that proved to be the game winning goal as the Rangers took the game, 4-3.
In the locker room after the game, Mika Zibanejad told me he was feeling good and was so happy to see the puck go in the back of the net, and it was a great team win. The Rangers conclude their back-to-back set tomorrow against the Blue Jackets at the Garden.
In other news, thank you to Jim Cerny and Amanda Borges for making my first live night so wonderful, memorable and easy. I had so many nerves, but you two made it all worth while and I’m forever thankful. Also thank you to the New Jersey Devils and Kean University’s Communication Department.Thank you!
