Rangers top Hawks in OT

AP Photo/Matt Marton

The Rangers won the second game of their back to back set on Friday, with Nick Holden scoring the lone goal of the game in OT to cap it all off. Unfortunately I fell asleep for parts of the game but I did see a good portion of it, and I feel comfortable saying that the Rangers played a much better game than they did against Winnipeg, and a much better game than their recent form in general.

Although there were stretches of struggle for the Rangers during parts of the first and second period, with a couple of shifts in particular sticking out in my mind as areas for improvement, on the whole they carried more of the game than Chicago did. A few quick comments before I pass out:

• First of all, this game was solid evidence that a game does not necessarily need to be high-scoring to be exciting. Both goalies were back-ups and played out of their minds, with the two teams trading odd-man rushes at different points in the game. Overall just a great thing to see two goalies one-upping each other like that, although obviously Raanta was better n the end.
• No, these past two games does not mean there’s now a goalie controversy in New York. Hank is still the number one, and if you need convincing otherwise we’re probably going to disagree on a lot of stuff.

• This was a big win for the injury-depleted and travel-exhausted Rangers, with the team really showing their resilience against a pretty decent team. The Hawks, despite their own injuries, have players like Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane, and given the Rangers defensive woes of late it’s good to see that they were able to hold off one of the more top-heavy NHL lineups in the league.
• The Rangers really lucked out with that challenge taking away Chicago’s only goal, as that would have really been critical in shaping the outcome of the game given the way the scoring went otherwise and the play of the two goalies. Still, if it doesn’t count it doesn’t count, and kudos to AV and the coaching staff for getting that one right.
• If you had “Nick Holden scores the OT winner in an otherwise scoreless game” in Rangers bingo then congratulations, you’re clairvoyant. Don’t think anyone would have guessed it, but I’m happy for the contribution to the win and honestly don’t think him and Staal have been that bad of late (hot take alert!)

That just about wraps things up, with the win in Chicago helping to propel them into a weekend where they’ll face their rival New Jersey Devils on Sunday in a Metro division matchup. Hope you all enjoyed this scoreless goalie duel as much as I did (seriously, it was kinda cool), and apologies for the limited recap.