BLUE-COLLAR SHIRTS
Rangers’ work yields win
THE RANGERS’ new intensity may warrant discarding their “Clean Slate” training camp T-shirts to print up a new, proud slogan: “Will Work for Wins.”
Friday night, right wing Rick Nash, the $7.8 million man, even made it down to the factory floor for a second-effort game-winning goal with 1:58 left in the third period of a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars at the Garden – the final in a long list of effort plays that earned the Blueshirts two points to build on Wednesday’s 3-2 road upset of the Blackhawks.
“Going into that building in Chicago and getting two points was huge, but it wouldn’t have meant much if we didn’t get the win tonight,” Nash said after swatting a rebound past Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen while falling from a check by Stars defenseman Aaron Rome. “We started going to the inside and crashing the net, getting pucks to the net, and it ended up being the difference.”
The Rangers (23-20-3) didn’t begin as energized or sharp as they’d been for the previous week, partially due to a stop-and-start pace that saw 73 faceoffs and countless icing calls clog the flow of play. Still, when they turned on the urgency and emotion that has driven them lately, it led to game-tying goals by captain Ryan Callahan and center Derick Brassard and, eventually, Nash’s decisive finish.
“It comes down to hard work,” said Mats Zuccarello, who assisted on Brassard’s power-play goal 8:22 into the second period to tie the game 2-2.
The Rangers pushed their record in the past 10 games to 7-2-1, a stretch during which they’ve outscored opponents 12-4 in the third period, including Nash’s lone goal of the third Friday, assisted by Chris Kreider and Derek Stepan. That line had struggled much of the night as Dallas coach Lindy Ruff matched with Vernon Fiddler’s checking line relentlessly.
“We’re back in the race,” Brassard, another willing front-of-the-net presence, said of the Rangers’ standing in fourth place in the weak Metropolitan Division at 49 points. They are just one point back of both the second-place Flyers, who visit the Garden on Sunday, and the third-place Capitals.
Henrik Lundqvist (24 saves) got the win in his third straight start despite allowing two goals on the first 10 shots he faced to determined Dallas second-liners Cody Eakin and Ryan Garbutt (goal, assist) for 1-0 and 2-1 deficits. (Lundqvist also caught a break 22 seconds before Nash scored, when Stars center Tyler Seguin shot wide on a chance so ripe that he broke his stick across the post in frustration.) The Rangers responded the same way they had turned the game around earlier: With a game-high eight hits by new agitator Daniel Carcillo, and sturdy defense from Ryan McDonagh to draw the penalty that led to Brassard’s goal, and a hit by Zuccarello to begin a hustle sequence from Dan Girardi, Brad Richards (two assists) and Benoit Pouliot to create Callahan’s early tally.
With Seguin’s chance gone wide, McDonagh, who played a game-high 26:39 of ice time, punched the puck down low. Stepan deflected it wide, and then he and Kreider forechecked to create Nash’s game-winner, which reflected again that the Rangers, who once panicked in big moments, are now putting their heads down and working for wins.
“We’re sticking with the system,” McDonagh said, “and focusing on our response.”
HARTFORD BOUND: The Rangers sent forward J.T. Miller to the AHL after a second straight healthy scratch to get playing time with the Hartford Wolf Pack in games on Saturday and Sunday, coach Alain Vigneault said.