That's because the Rangers not only played the bulk of Thursday's victory over the Devils at Madison Square Garden, but they also just won a game in Dallas and are still in danger of a second consecutive overtime loss. Because it had been done.
And if Rangers were looking for potential heroes in extra sessions, Sam Carrick probably wouldn't have been high on the list.
But the 32-year-old converted a pass from Riley Smith with a one-timer and helped Carrick convert a turnover to spark the breakthrough for the win.
It was Carrick's third goal of the season, but also his second in his last four games.
“Ever since he won, everyone was fired up for him,” Artemi Panarin said. “He's a hard worker and an honest player, especially when he can score goals.”
Carrick signed with the Rangers last offseason to compensate for the loss of Barclay Goodrow, who was waived in June to free up cap space.
Carrick logged a heavier-than-usual 15:01 on the ice against the Devils, due in part to the absence of Filip Sitil, who was sidelined with an upper-body injury.
Head coach Peter Laviolette added that the loss of Sitil led to the use of Carrick in extra sessions.
He arrived last year in a midseason trade from Anaheim and helped Edmonton reach the Stanley Cup Final.
Don't pay attention right now, but Mika Zibanejad may be back on track.
Zibanejad, who had not scored in eight straight games, has now scored in five straight games thanks to Thursday's assist.
He has two goals and three assists during the streak, which, unsurprisingly, is in line with the Rangers' recent 3-1-1 record.
The Rangers lost all but one of his eight consecutive scoreless games.
Zibanejad spent 20 minutes, 58 seconds on the ice in the overtime win, his biggest workload since Dec. 2.
