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Dylan Garand makes 32 saves as Rangers best Blues, 3-1
- Story by
- Dylan Garand makes 32 saves as Rangers best Blues, 3-1
The Rangers defeated the St. Louis Blues 3-0 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
Here are some takeaways...
-- The first period featured no goals and four penalties. New York's shorthanded units killed off Scott Morrow's high stick and hooking by Jaroslav Chmelarthanks to sturdy goaltending by Dylan Garand. Later in the period, the Rangers had two minutes at five-on-four when Alexis Lafrenierewas tripped by Theo Lindstein.
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They created some good chances thanks to a lengthy period of possession in the offensive zone driven by blue line engine Adam Fox, but couldn't get the best of Blues goaltender Joel Hofer. J.T. Miller's high stick sent the Blues back to the power play with under a minute to go in the first, with 1:04 of man-advantage time carrying over to the second.
-- Garand continued to shut down St. Louis to open the second period and kill off the remainder of Miller's penalty. Marcus Petterssonretrieved the puck behind Garand's net with the Blues forechecking, and the Rangers promptly rushed out to a three-on-two break thanks to a smart outlet pass by Miller to Ty Kartye. Kartye held off the Blues defense to drop off the puck for Fox, who surged into the slot and beat Hofer upstairs for the game's opening goal.
Hofer made some acrobatic saves to keep the score 1-0, and the Rangers went back to the power play with under five minutes left in the period when Mika Zibanejadwas tripped by Jake Neighbours, but New York couldn't set up any good chances. Noah Labawas sent to the box for a slash, sending the Rangers' PK unit out there for the fifth time on the night. They successfully killed off all but 18 seconds of Laba's penalty, which remains on the timer entering the third period.
-- The Rangers survived the remainder of Laba's penalty, and quickly went back on the power play when Zibanejad drew another call, this time for holding on Connor McMichael. Hofer continued to hold off the Blueshirts offense. Yet another penalty was called, this time with Zibanejad hooking Dalibor Dvorsky. St. Louis's power play struggles continued as the Rangers killed a sixth penalty off with relative ease.
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New York's pressure finally paid off when a St. Louis turnover in their own zone allowed Will Cuylleto set up Oliver Bjorkstrand, who fired home his sixth goal of the season to double the lead with just under 11 minutes remaining in regulation.
Gabe Perraultseemingly scored a greasy goal with just under seven minutes remaining, but it was ruled out, as he kicked the puck into the net. The Blues pulled the goalie and sent out the extra attacker with under three minutes to go. Miller notched his second assist of the night when he set up Eeli Tolvanenwith the game-sealing empty netter. Pius Sutersoiled Garand's clean sheet by scoring with under a minute left, but it was merely a consolation and the Rangers held on to win 3-1.
Highlights
What's next
The Rangers will host a Metro Division rival - the Philadelphia Flyers - on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7:00 p.m.
