After Mika Zibanejad went down with a fractured fibula at the end of November, the New York Rangers were desperate to find an extra forward to replace him for the 4-6 weeks the superstar Swede would be out. On November 21st, the team claimed Matt Puempel off waivers from the Ottawa Senators and he has turned out to be a big boost and scoring machine for the New York Rangers.
On Thursday night, the 23-year-old netted his first career hat trick and helped lift the blueshirts to a 6-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes after the team gave up a 3-1 lead late in the game. Puempel also netted his three goals on the power play, making him the first Ranger to do so since Mike Gartner in the historic 1994 season.
Antti Raanta started for the Rangers as Henrik Lundqvist was still recovering from a bout of the flu, but he should be good to go in Denver on Saturday. Nick Holden, Chris Kreider, and J.T. Miller netted the other three goals for the blueshirts and it was a feel good win for the whole team.
There were hoards of Rangers fans at Gila River Arena on Thursday night, and Puempel told reporters, “It was nice to see some hats go on the ice.” The team finishes up their road trip Saturday in Denver before returning home after the new year to face the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden.
