After losing a 4-3 shootout to the Canadiens in Montreal on Saturday night, the Rangers are now 1-2 in games that require a contest of skill, or shootout, to determine the winner.
Head coach Peter Laviolette used the same starting two skaters for all three games: Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad.
The team's first penalty shootout on November 4 at Minnesota resulted in a 5-4 loss after Vincent Trocheck served as the third shot. His shot was saved by Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.
Then, in the Rangers' next game, a 4-3 win over the Blue Jackets on Nov. 12, it was Alexis Lafreniere who scored the game-winning goal with an incredible backhand shot.
So on Saturday night, Laviolette finally turned his attention back to No. 3 Lafreniere.
“He's pretty high up in the lineup where we can take shots,” Laviolette said of Lafreniere, whose shot on Sam Montembeau was saved by the Canadiens goaltender. “We didn't have that much. We never went [many] Gunfight. …But he's in a high place. Considering the number of shots he's taken, he's done a good job. ”
In penalty shootouts this season, Panarin has made 1 of 3 shots while Zibanejad has made 0 of 3 shots.
Rangers goaltender Jonathan Quick has coincidentally found the back of the net in all three shootouts this season.
The 37-year-old denied the statements made by the Wild's Kirill Kaprizov, the Blue Jackets' Patrik Laine and Alexandre Texier, and the Canadiens' Nick Suzuki. The post/crossbar saved Quick twice.
The Canucks defeated the Devils 6-4 on Saturday at the Prudential Center and head into Madison Square Garden just one point behind the Rangers in the standings.
This will be the second time the Canucks and Rangers have played against each other. The first game, won 4-3 in overtime by the Rangers, was played in Vancouver on October 28.
On Saturday night, Trocheck had another shocking game, scoring his first goal for the Rangers and assisting on his second, his 10th multi-point performance of the season.
Since the 2006-07 season, only two Rangers have had three or more assists in as many games as Trocheck, who had four assists a season. He joins Panarin and Jaromir Jagr.
Rangers captain Jacob Trouba leads the entire NHL with 121 blocked shots.
