In a game that could have erased all the good things in Saturday’s comeback victory in Washington, Dan Girardi came to the rescue.
The veteran blueliner, known more for his defensive work, had missed three games with a groin strain, but his third-period goal on Sunday night helped the Blueshirts shake off the doldrums of the second game of a back-to-back with a 3-2 defeat of the Arizona Coyotes at Madison Square Garden.
After Brady Skjei got around Luke Schenn along the left boards and sent the puck across the crease, Girardi fired in one motion from just below the right point and beat Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue cleanly at 1:55 of the third period to snap a 2-2 tie. It was Girardi’s first goal of the season. Jordan Martinook may have partially screened Domingue, the backup who has stepped in with starter Mike Smith injured. After Girardi’s goal, which revived the Rangers, Domingue did recover to make a series of stops to keep the Coyotes within a goal.
For the Rangers (4-2), the victory closed a two-win weekend and set up a pleasant off day on Monday. The Coyotes dropped to 1-4.
Indeed, the Rangers slogged through an uneven effort that required 27 blocked shots in front of Henrik Lundqvist, who made 27 saves. Playing without leading scorer Chris Kreider (neck spasms), they missed open shots and mismanaged the puck, especially in the second period.
With the score tied at 1 in the second and Jacob Chychrun off for hooking Jimmy Vesey, J.T. Miller sneaked behind the defense at the right post and got the blade of his stick on Ryan McDonagh’s low shot at 5:45 for his second of the season and a 2-1 lead.
But the Rangers sagged as the teams spent much of the period between the blue lines in mid-ice, stick-checking and unable to connect the dots. And they were not pleased. Nick Holden’s pass to nowhere drew a talking-to from McDonagh. Then, Kevin Hayes’ poor pass was picked off and as the Coyotes snapped into transition, Hayes lost track of Radim Vrbata, who scored his second of the game at 16:18 on passes from Max Domi and Christian Dvorak to even the score at 2.
It was an October surprise that Lundqvist, who played five back-to-backs last season, got the nod rather than Antti Raanta.
“I thought he played real well, won a big game,” coach Alain Vigneault said in explaining his decision. “We haven’t played a lot of hockey, we had two days off and we’re getting two more days off – one practice day – so the schedule is permitting me to use our No. 1 in this situation. Anybody’s who’s watched the schedule – in November, December – knows they’ll both be getting plenty of games. This is a good time to get Hank on top of his game.”
For the second consecutive night, the Rangers surrendered a very early goal. Vrbata redirected Connor Murphy’s shot through traffic over Lundqvist only 33 seconds in.
Vesey, who scored twice in Washington, missed wide right on a half open net. Standing at the left post, Mika Zibanejad jammed a puck past the uncovered iron and reached up to grab his helmet in amazement afterward. But Josh Jooris scored his first goal as a Ranger to tie the score at 12:13, when he scooped up a loose puck and tucked it behind a sprawled Domingue.
Results: Oilers 3 Jets 0; Wild 3 Islanders 6; Coyotes 2 Rangers 3; Canucks 2 Ducks 4
