After Sunday night’s OT Shootout loss to the Florida Panthers and a slow start in Monday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins, a win for the New York Rangers didn’t look like it was in the cards.
Penguins Jake Guentzel opened up the first period and more importantly his NHL debut with two goals, but Rangers Rick Nash was quick to answer back in the second with an unassisted goal, breaking the Penguins lead to 2-1. Guentzel came close to scoring a hat trick four minutes into the second, but Rangers goalie Antti Raanta denied his snapshot.
Michael Grabner, assisted by captain Ryan McDonagh,tied it 2-2 with his 12th goal of the season. After Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei was called for interference with 1:11 remaining in the second period, J.T. Miller shook up the Rangers penalty kill with a shorthand goal, making it 3-2 with under a minute to go.
In the third period, the Rangers wasted no time in hanging on to the lead. After his assist on the Miller goal, Kevin Hayes scored with 7:44 remaining in the third period pushing their lead to 4-2. Derek Stepan scored an empty-net goal assisted by Nash and Grabner with 1:23 left in the game.
Raanta made 29 saves and is 5-0-0 this season. The Rangers take a four-point lead in the Metropolitan Division.
