Rangers tie it late, win in overtime to give Henrik Lundqvist his 455th win for 5th all time

It was an emotional first period, as the Rangers paid tribute to Mats Zuccarello with a nice video tribute, even if MSG didn’t show the whole thing. But after that, there was a game to play. The Blueshirts jumped out early, but then gave up two straight to the Wild and it looked like the game was going to end in this anticlimactic manner. But then a tying goal from Kreider and an OT winner from DeAngelo, and we have a record setting game.

Overall this was a pretty strong game for the Rangers. They came out slow but still managed a lead. The second was dominated by the Rangers, but one bad shift led to a tie game. They again came out slow in the third, but poured it on late to get that equalizer. This was a good team win on a night where they could have mailed it in emotionally.

Rangers 1, Wild 0

This is the Brady Skjei we want to see. This was a nice little shift to get himself to open ice on his off-hand, getting to the mid-point with wide open space. He was much more assertive with the puck.

Wild 1, Rangers 1

It’s tough to really fault a line when they were gassed. But this goal happens because of their fatigue, thus the mental breakdown. Filip Chytil doesn’t get the man in the high slot, which forces Skjei up to take out the immediate threat. That opens up Zach Parise at the back door.

Wild 2, Rangers 1

Ryan Hartman stripped Pavel Buchnevich here, and the ensuing rush was actually a 2-on-2 because of Chris Kreider’s alertness. But Skjei did the snow angel, and Ryan Donato waited him out, got a better angle, and sniped it.

Rangers 2, Wild 2

Artemi Panarin tried to work with Ryan Strome for the deflection, but Strome’s deflection went off Ryan Suter and right to Chris Kreider in front, who buried it.

Rangers 3, Wild 2

Tony DeAngelo read this defensive switch by the Wild and got a step, which he used to get to center ice and draw Alex Stalock to his left, then fired back to his right.

Shot Heatmap

This was actually a pretty even game with a struggling Wild team. The quality and quantity were pretty even for both teams, which is certainly an improvement from what we’ve seen in the past.

Skater Results

Mostly dull here, which is better than everyone being bad. Boo Nieves looked to have a rough one, but he also barely played. Not much to really see here.

This was a strong team win, helping build on that big comeback against Montreal over the weekend. The Rangers are managing to stay around hockey-.500 without Mika Zibanejad, which is something. They have Carolina and Boston up next, so let’s see how this two game win streak and three wins in four holds up.