The New York Rangers kept their winning streak alive with a memorable comeback in front of nearly 80,000 fans in a showcase event on Sunday, and their next challenge comes against a team playing nearly as well.
The Rangers will attempt to extend their season-best winning streak to eight games on Tuesday night when they host the Dallas Stars, who have the second-most points in the Western Conference.
After a middling 11-12-2 stretch, the Rangers are reverting to the team that raced out to an 18-4-1 start through Dec. 3. They won their final game before the All-Star break to kick off the current winning streak, during which they have outscored opponents 31-16.
New York is seeking its first eight-game winning streak since putting together nine straight victories from Oct. 25-Nov. 15, 2015.
The Rangers were 4:08 away from seeing the streak end on Sunday before a late rally saved the day. Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad scored power-play goals in the third period and Artemi Panarin netted the game-winner 10 seconds into overtime for a dramatic 6-5 victory over the New York Islanders in a Stadium Series game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
Panarin scored his 32nd goal of the season to cap a comeback from a 4-1 deficit. It was the Rangers’ sixth victory when trailing after two periods this season.
“The way we won was pretty remarkable,” said Rangers defenseman Adam Fox, who had two assists against the Islanders. “We were down two goals twice and even three goals at one point but stuck with it. The way to end that in overtime was cool. It was such an awesome experience. Every guy was fired up with the whole thing.”
The Rangers hope to stay fired up as they try to get two points against the Stars, who have 76 points and trail only the Vancouver Canucks (80 points) in the Western Conference.
Since losing three straight from Jan. 2-6, the Stars are 12-3-3 in their past 18 games, although they are coming off consecutive losses beyond regulation. After picking up a 9-2 victory at Nashville on Thursday, Dallas took a 4-3 overtime loss against the Edmonton Oilers and then a 4-3 shootout defeat against the Boston Bruins.
On Monday, the Stars were 1:45 away from getting a regulation win in Boston but gave up the game-tying goal to David Pastrnak before scoring only once in a nine-round shootout.
Wyatt Johnston, Ryan Suter and Esa Lindell scored in regulation for the Stars, whose depth was tested. Matt Duchene (22 goals, 33 assists) was out due to a lower-body injury, and Miro Heiskanen (six, 27) was away from the team due to the birth of his child.
Both players could be out again on Tuesday, and Jani Hakanpaa (upper body) and Nils Lundkvist (concussion) have already been ruled out for the contest in New York.
Even with the short-handed lineup, the Stars produced 46 shots on goal against the Bruins, their highest total of the season.
“Kind of disappointing,” Lindell said. “We had some chances to put the game away and walk away with two points, but it didn’t happen. Now just quickly regroup and be ready for (Tuesday).”
The Rangers are 4-1-1 in their past six games vs. the Stars. Dallas beat visiting New York 6-3 in the most recent meeting on Nov. 20 behind a goal and two assists from Roope Hintz.
–Field Level Media
