Vesey very confident in big spots
IN the bad old days after an opening 35 minutes through which the Rangers’ energy quotient was equal to the big round zero on the Garden scoreboard Sunday afternoon against the Canucks, someone surely would have gone over the boards to initiate a fight in order to get his team going.
“Oh, for sure,” Rick Nash said. “Down 2-0? No doubt. But those days are gone.”
For better or worse — better for everyone’s health, perhaps worse regarding the level of competitive passion on the ice — those days are in the past, replaced by a present that is all about skating and skill and includes, yes, the shootout.
Which, after rousing themselves following their somnambulant effort for much of the afternoon, was finished by Jimmy Vesey, who’d tied the match 3-3 at 5:05 of the third period with a snappy backhand up top from the slot off a brilliant spinning feed from Nash.
“Ever since I was a kid I’ve been the goal-scorer, and I was able to score a lot in college, so yes, I do consider myself a finisher,” Vesey told The Post after beating Jacob Markstrom with a wrist shot to the glove side in the seventh round for the 4-3 victory that extended the Rangers’ winning streak to four games overall and eight at the Garden. “I know I’ve only got five [goals], but I have been getting chances, so my mindset is to just keep shooting and the law of averages will kick in.
“Obviously the goalies are better and the defenses you face are better, but I’m not going to overthink it. It’s such a mental game that it’s easy to let it get in your head, so I don’t overthink it. I rely on my talent and let it take over.”
The shootout try was Vesey’s fourth in his two NHL seasons and the goal his second. He wants to get the call when coach Alain Vigneault surveys the bench.
“I think I’ve got some good moves in my arsenal,” said the blue-collar kid from Harvard, who came in on the right before accelerating on Markstrom. “I tried the same move on [Carey] Price last year but didn’t get it up quite enough. I’ve got a couple of tricks.”
Each team had scored twice when Vesey got the call. The Rangers, who chose last licks on the suggestion of Henrik Lundqvist, had been down to their final strike twice. It was Kevin Shattenkirk, 10-for-26 in his career, who tied it in the bottom of the third on a silky move after Brock Boeser had beaten the King in the top half. Then Nash kept it alive in the bot- tom of the fifth with a glove-side wrister after Sven Baertschi had scored.
“You definitely feel the pressure when it’s on you to keep the game alive,” Nash said. “It’s a little more fun when you know you can win it with a goal, but regardless, I really enjoy going in the shootout.”
As well No. 61 should, given that his career 37.9 percent success rate in going 33-for-87 is 13th best among qualifiers since the NHL adopted the skills competition coming out of the 2004-05 canceled season.
The shootout is a gimmick that has nothing to do with the 65 minutes of hockey that precedes it — just as the three-on-three OT is disconnected from regulation — but its entertainment value sure did save the day on Sunday.
“The way you play in the shootout has nothing to do with the game,” Lundqvist said. “You start over. You never know. Giving up two goals is disappointing to me, there’s a lot on me and that’s not what I was looking for, but I guess it worked out OK.”
It worked out for the Rangers following their extended walkabout from which they were roused when Jesper Fast scored late in the second period. And it worked out despite the fact Brady Skjei and Mats Zuccarello were each on for an opening overtime shift of 1:40 that lasted through an offensive-zone change on which the Canucks were able to get Henrik and Daniel Sedin onto the ice.
Speaking of this being a new day: neither twin got the call in the seven-round shootout.
Neither, on the Rangers side, did Chris Kreider. The winger, 0-for-1 lifetime, was asked how deep he thought it would go before he might get the nod from Vigneault.
“Are we allowed to use the trainers?” he asked and answered.