SALT LAKE CITY — This three-game road trip could make a big difference for the Rangers at the end of the 2024-25 regular season.
After a 5-3 win over Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night at the Delta Center, the Blueshirts, who scored five of the West's six points, not only reinvigorated their game; , a competition that also played it against some prominent opponents.
Head coach Peter Laviolette said with a smile, “I'm still frustrated that we lost.'' “It's been a good road trip. Even going back, I think we played some good hockey. We've just got to keep doing that. We've got to remember what got us here. We have to take that into every game and take the mindset of what works for us right now, and if we do that, we'll have a chance.”
There was a lot to like about the entire team effort in the 2-1 win in Las Vegas.
Despite losing in overtime to a hot Avalanche team in Denver, the Rangers put up their best defensive effort of the season.
But the win in the first game at Utah State was a win that probably wouldn't have been possible a month ago.
It took a few counter punches, a defensive effort to slow down the opponent, and a great third period to end the game.
So did the Rangers. That pushed them back over .500. They currently sit in 6th place in the Metropolitan Division.
“We're going to play some tough teams for the rest of the season,” Riley Smith said. His shorthanded goal 28 seconds into the third period tied the game at 3-3. “Obviously, the first game in Las Vegas was important. That's a tough team to beat. Moving to Colorado and just getting one point there was important. We're off to a great start on this road trip. I'm really glad that I was able to finish it off like this.”
The Rangers kept it close against Utah throughout the game, but two goals in the final 20 minutes and an empty net from Artemi Panarin gave the home team the win, giving the Russian star wing two goals on the night.
The Rangers had to start the third period on a penalty kill, but still managed to make it 3-on-3. Braden Schneider fed the puck to Smith, who scored his ninth goal of the season with a shot from the top of the left circle 28 seconds into the game.
Chris Kreider then collected and snapped the puck on a faceoff win for the Rangers, grabbed the puck that ended up being the game-winner, and celebrated by diving into the corner boards.
“He was one of our most notable players,” Laviolette said of Kreider. He had a shaky game against the Avs when he returned from injured reserve with an upper-body injury.
After answering each of Utah's two goals in the first 20 minutes, the Rangers were forced to start shorthanded in the middle frame when Artur Kaliyev was called for high sticking in the final minutes of the first. .
This allowed Logan Cooley to beat Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin in five holes to take a 3-2 lead and score the only goal of the second period just 57 seconds into the game. This came after Rangers almost conceded the first goal of the game. One minute after the puck drops.
But the Blueshirts always had an answer against Utah, with Matthias Macelli scoring twice in the first period.
After Panarin's bar-down shot made it a 1-1 game, Kaliyev, tucked into the puck, swooped down and took a shot from Filip Sztil past Utah goaltender Karel Weimerka for his first goal and first point of the season. Obtained. As a ranger, you go 2-all towards the end of the opening frame.
“That's huge,” Ryan Lindgren said. “I think we've been able to play a better brand of hockey in recent days. We're starting to see it little by little. We've played some really good teams, but to be able to get five out of six points is… It was huge. We just have to keep doing it.”
