In a battle of the goaltenders, the New York Rangers (2-1) snuck away with a 2-1 victory against the Arizona Coyotes (1-1) at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 16.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Going to New York City, Arizona was coming off of a 4-3 shootout win over the New Jersey Devils two days ago.
As for the Rangers, they lost their last game to the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 on Oct. 14.
When he stepped onto on the ice, Coyotes defenseman Matt Dumba played in his 600th career game in the NHL.
With not many prime scoring chances for either side, the game came down to which goalie would give up one more goal than the other.
First Period
The first period had a few chances, but both goaltenders, Connor Ingram on the Coyotes and Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin didn’t face many threats on-net.
Then, New York center Mika Zibanejad and left-winger Chris Krieder had a 2-on-1 break going towards the Arizona goal.
As there were no Coyotes defensemen back after Zibanejad took the puck, the only guy back-checking for the ‘Yotes was center Barrett Hayton.
Zibanejad neared Ingram, pump-faked to act like he was going to shoot and caught Arizona’s goalie frozen.
With Ingram out of position, Zibanejad passed the puck to Krieder for a tap-in one-timer and the Rangers took the lead 1-0 with 5:50 remaining in the first-20 minutes.
At the end of the initial frame, New York outshot the Coyotes 13-10.
Second Period
Like the game against New Jersey on Oct. 16, the second period had multiple penalties, but the Coyotes found an answer.
After a holding infraction by Rangers defenseman K’Andre Miller on Arizona center Travis Boyd, the ‘Yotes went on the power-play at 5:35 into the middle frame.
With the man advantage, Coyotes winger Nick Schmaltz took a shot that went wide of the net.
As the puck ricocheted off the boards in the left corner, Arizona rookie Logan Cooley grabbed it and sent a pass back to Schmaltz before finding teammate Clayton Keller for a one-timer.
When he got the puck, Keller fired it past Shesterkin’s glove and the Coyotes tied the game 1-1.
Clayton Keller @ClaytonKeller37
GOAL 🔥 with an assist by @thisisnick_09 & @logancooley1818 https://t.co/i8Wkn9JIZh pic.twitter.com/e5cwOAS2Cg— Arizona Coyotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) October 17, 2023
The Rangers ended with four penalties in the period while Arizona had one.
Third Period
Both teams in the final-20 minutes of regulation had multiple chances, but Ingram and Shesterkin continued to keep the game close.
Eventually, Dumba cross-checked New York defenseman Ryan Lindgren and was sent to the penalty box.
With 11:46 left in the third period, Ingram did the splits to make a huge save on a shot by Zibanejad.
12 seconds later, Panarin retrieved the puck and shot it at Ingram’s blocker hand, but with a deflection by Rangers center Vincent Trocheck, the puck changed directions and went past Ingram’s glove and New York went up 2-1.
As the period was dwindling down, the Coyotes had a lifeline opportunity.
Skating towards the Rangers goal, Jason Zucker had a breakaway, but was interfered with from behind by New York forward Barclay Goodrow.
Then, the referee pointed towards center ice, indicating that Zucker was awarded a penalty shot.
On the penalty shot, Zucker glided towards Shesterkin, but New York’s goaltender made a blocker save to eliminate the chance.
The Coyotes pulled Ingram to get a 6-on-5 opportunity and couldn’t construct a quality play with the clock ticking down.
A scrum at the end of the game between both teams occurred as the final buzzer sounded.
Things got spicy at the end of the Rangers vs. Yotes game 💥 pic.twitter.com/co9ev4JQWm
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 17, 2023
Postgame Notes
Shesterkin saved 27 out of the 28 shots he faced while Ingram had 27 on 29.
As for the power-play, the Coyotes went 1-for-5 and the Rangers were 1-for-3.
On the lone goal for Arizona, Cooley’s assist was his third of the season in two games.
Tomorrow, the Coyotes head to Long Island as they play the New York Islanders at UBS Arena at 4:30 p.m.
Coyotes vs. Rangers Player Spotlight: Nick Schmaltz vs Mika Zibanejad
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Alec Cipollini is a journalist covering the Arizona Coyotes, Cardinals and Phoenix Rising for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account @AlecCipollini
