Mika scores another goal, but Igor struggles as Rangers fall to Devs
This was an ugly one for the Rangers.
Mika Zibanejad scored again, coming off his five-goal game on Thursday, but goaltender Igor Shesterkin was shelled in his return to the net. Shesterkin gave up four straight goals during the second period of the Blueshirts 6-4 loss to the Devils on Saturday night at the Garden.
The Rangers could not sustain their momentum two nights after Zibanejad scored five goals in the their 6-5 overtime win over the Capitals.
Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri each scored twice for the Devils.
Fredrik Claesson and John
Hayden also scored, and Damon Severson and Dakota Merkis each had two assists to help the Devils improve to 6-1-2 in their last nine games.
“As a group we stepped up,” Palmieri said. “It was great to contribute and see those two go in. It was fun.”
Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 31 shots to improve to 8-
1-2 in his last 11.
“Everyone is doing their job,“Blackwood said.
“This is huge for us. We know what we had to do.”
Zibanejad, Tony DeAngelo, Filip Chytil, and Greg McKegg each scored for the Rangers, who fell three points out of the two wildcard spots in the Eastern
Conference.
“(Our mindset) was to play spoiler,” Zajac said. “It's an important time for them in the season, so it makes it sweeter for us.”
Igor Shesterkin allowed five goals on 23 shots over two periods in his first game since sustaining a rib fracture in a car accident on Feb. 23. Henrik Lundvist replaced him to start the third and stopped all five shots he faced. The Devils trailed 2-1 after one period before scoring four times in the second to take control.
Palmieri got his second of the night and 25th of the season just 44 seconds into the middle period to tie the score.
Claesson, who played 37 games for the Rangers last season, gave the Devils the lead for good just 52 seconds later. It was his first goal in five games this season.
Zajac pushed New Jersey's lead to 4-2 on its first power play of the night with less than four minutes remaining in the second.
Hayden made it 5-2 just 25 seconds later, snapping a 14game point drought.
“Want is a very, very important characteristic in this sport,“Rangers coach David Quinn said. “We played a team that wanted it much, much more than we did.“
The Rangers cut their deficit to 5-3 with 6:18 left in the third on McKegg's fifth of the season.
UNIONDALE — Vincent Trocheck scored early in overtime and the Carolina Hurricanes ended a four-game losing streak, beating the Islanders 3-2 Saturday.
Trocheck notched his first goal with the Hurricanes on a power play 1:36 into the extra session, sending the Islanders to their sixth loss in a row.
During a scramble in front of the Islander net, Trocheck knocked the puck past goaltender Thomas Greiss after teammate Andrei Svechnikov appeared to possibly tap the puck off the crossbar with a high stick.
The goal was confirmed after a lengthy review by the officials. It looked as though Svechnikov's stick was above the crossbar, but the league ruled his stick was below his shoulders and therefore a good goal.
“I was feeling like I wasn't getting any bounces those first few games,” said Trocheck, acquired from Florida on Feb. 24. “To finally get one and for it to be an OT winner definitely something I'll remember.”
The win kept Carolina two points back of the Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets, who occupy the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference.
“Every shift matters,” Carolina head coach Rod Brind'Amour said. “It's all coming down to details and those little things that we're talking about. The shot blocks and they all get magnified this time of year.”
Josh Bailey tied the game at 2 for the Islanders with just under five minutes to play in the third period. Noah Dobson took a shot that goalie Anton Forsberg kicked away, but the rebound went right to Bailey for the goal.
Forsberg made 24 saves for the Hurricanes as he picked up his first win of the season. Ryan Pulock also scored for New York and Greiss made 25 saves.
“I thought we played hard, I thought we played a pretty fully 60,” Bailey said. “We just fell a little short. Not sure about the goal in overtime.”