TORONTO — The Rangers were eliminated in the game between the NHL’s two most popular teams.
Goals from Mitch Marner and Max Domi earned the home team a 4-3 penalty shootout victory Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena, increasing the gap between the Blueshirts and Maple Leafs in the Eastern Conference standings by six points. The rankings of both clubs were now equal. Preview the final playoff matchup on full display.
Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin tried as hard as he could, making 31 saves on 34 shots.
Other than Marner’s drive to the net, an inadvertent deflection from the Rangers’ stick and a ricochet of the puck off his knee beat the 28-year-old netminder, handing him his first loss since Jan. 26.
Ilya Samsonov also had strong goaltending for the Maple Leafs, making 32 saves.
Toronto clinched the regular season series 2-1 with Saturday night’s victory.
Both teams traded goals until the second period, with the score tied at 2-2 going into the final frame.
In the most aggressive period of the game, the Rangers pulled Shesterkin as an extra skater with over a minute left in regulation before Vincent Trocheck scored his second goal of the game, ultimately sending the game into overtime.
In the fourth round of the shootout, Trocheck was the Rangers’ last hope until one hit the post.
Toronto spent more time in the offensive zone in the second game than in the first, outscoring the Rangers 11-4 and holding a 5-0 edge in dangerous chances. As a result, Marner and William Nylander scored, sandwiching a goal from Vincent Trocheck with 5:03 left in the half.
Trocheck’s second line, Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere led the Rangers’ play all night.
Led by Lafreniere’s 3-point shooting, the trio ended up combining for three goals and 13 shots on goal.
The Rangers held a near lead over the Maple Leafs in the opening frame, but Shesterkin was unable to break through and the visiting team managed to take a 1-0 lead. It felt like an even time period, except for the scoreboard.
Lafreniere gave his team the advantage at 11:33 when a bullet from the middle of the zone hit the twine, and for several seconds no one knew what had happened.
The two key players in the game, the Rangers’ Matt Rempe and the Maple Leafs’ Ryan Reaves, were not on the ice at the same time until late in the first period. The climax came when Reeves appeared to say something to Rempe as the 21-year-old skated away without paying Rempe any attention.
Toward the end of the third period, they regrouped, but this time Lempe accepted.
It was an even match with both bruisers delivering their fair share of blows.
