Despite dropping three of their four games during their west coast swing, the Rangers were still able to hold the top spot in the Metropolitan Division.
Like the mountains they flew over on their way from city to city, and like the past seven weeks had been, it was rugged and hard.
The Blueshirts’ sad end to the season’s final lengthy road trip came Tuesday night when they lost 3-2 in overtime to the basement-dwelling Sharks, despite blowing a two-goal lead enroute a routine victory.
“We didn’t do that, but we wanted to finish this road trip strong,” stated Adam Fox. It’s undoubtedly depressing. Nobody is going to be content. We have two games left before the break, so we need to turn things around and gain some momentum. What was anticipated of this Rangers squad was an easy victory over the last-place Sharks, who were playing on the second night of a back-to-back after defeating the Kings in a shootout in Los Angeles.
However, the Rangers needed to win this one since they are a squad that has recently failed to live up to expectations. The trip was a mixed bag, with more setbacks than advancements. The Rangers, who have been playing hockey around a.500 level since December 5, continued to raise concerns after suffering losses of 2-1 to the Kings and 5-1 to the Golden Knights. At first, Sunday’s game in Anaheim seemed to be very similar.
That was before the Rangers’ four-goal comeback in the third quarter not only stole the game, winning 5-2, but also gave the club a reminder of their tenacious nature.
With goals from Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin giving them a 2-0 lead going into the third, the Rangers watched as that advantage evaporated in less than five minutes.
After Nico Sturm stopped an Erik Gustafsson pass underneath the Rangers net, the Sharks forward cut the visitor’s lead in half, 2-1, by banking the puck off Igor Shesterkin and in. After nearly two minutes, Ryan Carpenter, like many former Rangers, equalized the score through a deflection with nearly the entire period remaining.
The Rangers were unable to take advantage of a power play, despite earning one in the last six minutes of play.
