VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Rangers' strength on the road has continued to shine so far this season.
After a very uneventful and eventless game in Seattle, the Rangers had plenty of action in a competitive game against the Canucks on Tuesday night, with the visitors winning 4-3.
The Blueshirts came out victorious in a high-octane game that featured some entertaining hockey.
After both teams traded goals at midfield going into the third period with a score of 3-3, the Rangers broke the game with a goal from Chris Kreider at 10:43.
The chemistry between Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Riley Smith has been steadily developing, with this game-winning play being the latest example.
Zibanejad fed Smith high up, then Smith teed up Kreider for a short-side shot to Canucks goaltender Arturs Sirovs.
It was Kreider's ninth goal of the season and Zibanejad's fourth multi-point performance of the 2024-25 season.
The Rangers had a lot of open ice in this game and made the most of it.
The Rangers connected with passes across the ice, were creative in transition, and were a constant threat on offense.
Despite the win, Rangers have collapsed early numerous times over the last three-and-a-half weeks, conceding a goal within the first minute four times through 11 games.
The latest incident occurred Tuesday night, when Canucks captain Quinn Hughes crashed into the middle of the ice and backhanded past Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin just 34 seconds after dropping the puck.
However, Zibanejad showed some jump early in the game to counter Vancouver's early scoring.
Zibanejad scored his third 5-on-5 goal of the season when he hooked a shot from Quandre Miller with his stick. The Swedish center was on the ice for the entire first 20 minutes, setting up his linemates and increasing the pace whenever the puck was on his stick.
Will Quill gave Rangers their first lead of the night towards the end of the first period, with a breakout from Kaapo Kakko and the 22-year-old scoring into the top corner for the Sirovs.
Quill, who also had an assist on the night, is currently tied with Artemi Panarin for the most 5-on-5 points on the team with 13.
The Canucks, playing without star JT Miller, tied it again before the first intermission with a goal off a rush by Kiefer Sherwood.
Before the game even started, the Rangers led the NHL in road power-play success rate (37.5), as well as road goals per game (4.43) and games against (1.43).
