The Rangers returned home from Montreal with a .500 record, lots of questions, and an unfamiliar opponent awaiting them as they faced the Minnesota Wild on Monday, October 27. It seemed in the first period, the Rangers left their game at the border, being outshot 13-5, and killing off two penalties. The penalty kill would get a LOT more practice however. With 16 seconds left in the first period, Chris Kreider was by no means "Easy Kreider" as he went in to forecheck on Minnesota's young star defenseman Jonas Brodin. Kreider made initial contact with Brodin and with what can only be described as reckless disregard, shoved him into the backboards, nearly causing a human explosion. Kreider was given a Boarding major and a game misconduct.
In the 2nd period, the Rangers were able to kill off the remaining 4:44 of the major power play, but the momentum of the power play manifested in the opening goal of the game. Justin Fontaine slid a pass from the left wing across the crease to a rushing Nate Prosser, who deftly deflected the pass through the best efforts of Henrik Lundqvist and into the net for the 1-0 lead at 5:29 of the second period.
The Wild would double the lead to 2-0 just 55 seconds later. Matt Cooke, fresh off the bench for a player change, found himself completely unchecked in front of the net. Unfortunately for the Rangers, Justin Fontaine found him as well, and Cooke one timed a centering pass short side on Lundqvist, and the Rangers were looking at a two goal deficit, and looked like a team that had no idea how to play positional hockey, but it was about to get even worse.
Less than a minute after the Cooke goal, Minnesota again threatened the Rangers zone, and Erik Haula took a drop pass and fired a shot toward the goal. John Moore, slightly tardy to his defensive assignment, completely blasted Haula with an extended forearm/elbow which snapped Haula's head back, and flipped him in the air. Moore was assessed a Match Penalty for deliberate contact to the head, and the Rangers not only were shorthanded for five more minutes, they were now down two players.
The Rangers are lucky that Minnesota have an abysmal power play, which makes no sense when you can throw out Ryan Suter and Zach Parise. They have not scored a power play goal all season, and would continue that trend, as the Rangers killed off the major portion of the Match penalty. Again, the momentum of the power play paid dividends as the Wild finally extended to a 3-0 lead as Jason Pominville, in an ode to Rick Jeanerette, "increased the population of Pominville by one." His wrist shot from the slot rattled the back of the net, and that's how the period ended. Again, the Rangers were badly outshot in the frame to the tune of 11-3, or an ugly two period total of 24-8.
I can only imagine what was said in the intermission, but whatever it was, a fire was lit between 7th and 8th avenue, and the Rangers came out for the third period with a new focus - and due to ejections, new line combinations. One of which was Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello surrounding Derick Brassard, and within three minutes, that combo helped break the ice. Nash made a strong play along the right wing wall, feeding the puck to Zuccarello, who bought a little time and then feathered a pass to Kevin Kline. A Fish Called Wanda again got a good rating as Klein fired a slapshot through a Rick Nash screen past Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper to get the Rangers on the board for a 3-1 deficit at 2:52 of the third period.
The floodgates were cracked a little at this point, and proceeded to be cracked a little more. Brassard fed Matt Hunwick at the point, and Hunwick sent a wrist shot to the net. Kuemper, fighting through another Rick Nash screen, stopped the puck, but the rebound dropped to the ice where the Rangers leading scorer, with one backhand swipe, sent it under Kuemper, and just inside the left goalpost to cut the lead to 3-2. Nash's 9th of the season, tying him with Corey Perry of Anaheim for the NHL lead in goals again, came at 4:48.
Minnesota quieted the raucous Madison Square Garden crowd briefly, and did it within a minute of the Nash goal. Suter took a pass from Charlie Coyle, faked a shot, feeding Nino Neiderreiter in the high slot. The former Islander sent one in on Lundqvist, but Jason Zucker, cruising thought the goal mouth, got the shaft of his stick on it, deflecting the puck past Lundqvist for a 4-2 Wild lead. The goal was Zucker's team leading 5th of the year.
That could have been the nail in the coffin, but a desperate Rangers team playing desperate hockey woldn't give up, and at 7:54 closed the lead back to one goal. Carl Hagelin took a pass in the slot and released a hellacious wrist shot that Kuemper never saw until it was past him. Bad luck for Hagelin though as he rang the crossbar with the shot. Derick Brassard played "Johnny on the Spot" and was the only one who saw the puck hit the crossbar and drop straight down. As Kuemper and his defense looked for the puck, perhaps thinking the initial Hagelin shot had gone in, Brassard swept the puck into the yawning open net to make the score 4-3 at 7:54.
The Rangers continued their unlikely comeback, and at 16:12, history was made. Kevin Klein fed Matt Hunwick, who looked up and sent a perfect cross ice pass to a streaking Anthony Duclair on the right wing. The Duke took the pass in stride, and with a release that was quicker than a hiccup, snapped one that handcuffed Kuemper, squirted through him and into the net for his first NHL goal, and more importantly a 4-4 tie.
As the Garden Faithful were just about to sit, the roof nearly came off the place less than minute later as the Rangers completed the comeback. Mats Zuccarello pitchforked the puck high in the air, into the Wild zone, where Derick Brassard corralled it behind the net. Zuccarello then snuck away from the left side of the ice across the crease to the right post, took a smart little feed from Brassard, and roofed the puck past a stunned Kuemper for the Rangers fifth goal of the period, and an improbable 5-4 lead.
The Rangers, desperately trying to hold the lead, iced the puck on two occasions in the last minute, but Lundqvist made one final save on a Charlie Coyle shot directly off a face off with 2 seconds left to secure the strangest victory in quite some time for the Rangers.
PLUS/MINUS
PLUS - Rick Nash. He set up the first goal, scored the second, and seemed to energize his makeshift linemates in the third period, which brings me to....
PLUS - Derick Brassard. "Brass" took the mantle of best player on the ice for the Rangers. He ended the night with a goal and two assists, as did......
PLUS - Mats Zuccarello. The Hobbit came into the game with one assist. He set up the first goal, fed Hagelin for the wicked shot that Brassard finished off, then made a smart play getting the puck deep, finding open space, and burying the winner.
PLUS - Matt Hunwick. With John Moore ejected, Hunwick responded with two assists and played an excellent game.
PLUS - Anthony Duclair. The Duke already has partial ownership of the city as part of the "royal court" with the King. His goal looked like what I expected it to. Speed and a quick release.
MINUS - Chris Kreider - I'll get into that in depth.
MINUS - John Moore - see "Chris Kreider"
The Rangers now have a long break before they once again take the ice on Saturday, November 1 against the Winnipeg Jets. A New Blue (P)Review will be forthcoming.
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