WILL ‘POWER’
Gimpy Rangers tough out a win with gritty 'D' and late PPG
WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Rangers didn’t need the two points as much as they needed a moment to show themselves they can win with a lineup ravaged by injuries, without scoring a ton of goals, and by grinding it out with ugly, gritty defense.
And they got a fortunate bounce that resulted in Kevin Hayes’ power-play game-winner with 1:09 remaining in regulation to secure a 2-1 win over the Jets on Thursday night at MTS Center. It was basically the first bounce that went the Rangers’ way all night, as they just kept their heads down, kept pushing, and kept the Jets from every really breaking through.
“When stuff like that happens, you don’t get down,” Hayes said. “It was an entertaining third, and we just got a late power-play goal.”
Hayes scored his 11th of the season and was a force in his 16:38 of ice time. That was emphasized with 2:31 on the penalty kill, which went 3-for-3, including two early kills in the third period.
The hope for the Rangers (18-9-1) is that this can start taking them out of the 4-5-1 hole of the previous 10 games, which were colored by the injuries to Mika Zibanejad (broken leg) and Pavel Buchnevich (back), and got even darker with the loss of Rick Nash (groin) on Tuesday. It’s clear the Blueshirts are having their organizational depth challenged, and coach Alain Vigneault can’t keep rolling four lines and scoring four goals a night.
But injuries were bound to happen, just as the offense couldn’t keep churning at the early-season pace. The space on the ice inevitably was going to get tighter, and what the Rangers needed was to show they can win by preventing goals against opponents like the talented Jets (13-14-3) and players like 18-year-old wunderkind Patrik Laine, who came in tied for the league lead with 17 goals but was utterly shut down.
“As you go on in the season, that’s just the way more of the games become and you have to learn to play that way,” said defenseman Marc Staal, who was terrific in carrying partner Nick Holden all night. “It’s differ- ent if we’re making plays against a team that is lax defensively and we can do that. But when a team is not, you can’t force it. You get in trouble.”
Trouble is what the Rangers saw over the past few weeks, as opponents clogged the neutral zone and grounded their attack. But this night, they established their speed in the first period, going up 1-0 on a power-play goal from Chris Kreider 8:02 into play. They were pushed hard when the Jets dominated the second, getting one from Mark Scheifele from in front at 9:51 to take a 1-1 tie into the third.
But that’s when the Rangers shut it down, and despite two penalties from Josh Jooris and Michael Grabner, they were able to protect in front of backup goalie Antti Raanta, who needed only 17 saves to take his record to 61-0 on the season.
“Our guys made it easy for me to play,” said Raanta, who will watch starter Henrik Lundqvist take the second leg of this back-to-back on Friday night in Chicago. “It’s a great thing to be a goalie when the guys are doing that kind of stuff in front of you.”
When Winnipeg forward Drew Stafford took a highsticking penalty with just under three minutes remaining in regulation, it was a Ryan McDonagh shot that was deflected and ended up on Hayes’ stick at the left post, an easy finish into an open net for the victory that was anything but easy.
“You can’t talk about what a good win it was with them out of the lineup,” Hayes said. “Injuries are part of hockey and you just have to roll with it.”
Now the Rangers roll on, inching closer to the New Year with an idea of the type of game they have to play to win while their group remains depleted.
“We’re learning, I think,” Staal said. “Especially with the injuries, you need to find ways to give yourself a chance to win every night. This type of game will give you that chance.”