The Rangers picked up their first win of the season after Brady Skjei scored in overtime against the Sharks, 3-2. Brendan Smith tied the game late in the third period with his first tally of the year. >> Box score
First period:
- 4:31 SJS Marcus Sorensen (Shorthanded); Assists: Timo Meier, Brent Burns
- 13:52 NYR Brett Howden
Second period:
- 4:59 SJS Joonas Donskoi; Assists: Antti Suomela, Brent Burns
Third period:
- 17:21 NYR Brendan Smith; Assists: Pavel Buchnevich, Jesper Fast
Overtime:
- 0:37 NYR Brady Skjei
Stats:
Adam Rotter:
- A win! David Quinn picks up his first as coach of the Rangers and does so against a team considered by many to be one of the best in the league. It's one game and the Sharks will surely be playing much later into the spring than the Rangers will, but it's nice to beat a good team and nice to get a win on home ice.
- Fitting that Brady Skjei would score the winner after he was undressed on the Sharks' first goal. Skjei, I felt, had a pretty solid game after that first goal was scored and it's nice to see how he rebounded from that. In the third and in OT Skjei reminded me of the player he was as a rookie when he was skating into the zone and helping create offense.
- It's still a very small sample size, but Brett Howden certainly looks like he could fill the skates of the player that wore 21 before him. Stepan may be a bit more of a playmaker but they are both smart, two-way players and if Howden can be anything close to what Stepan was for the Rangers, they will be in a really good spot moving forward.
- Namestnikov looked a lot more like the player he is supposed to be and while the fourth line isn't the ideal spot for him, if he keeps skating the way he did tonight, he will get moved up in the lineup.
- As a group the Rangers need to be better and manage the puck a lot better, but it's great to see Henrik Lundqvist standing tall as the last line of defense. He made a number of saves that kept this close and allowed the Rangers to make that push and find a way to win.
- Overall, it was nice to see how the Rangers battled and kept pushing in the third period to tie and then win the game. It's four games, but you can see at times how David Quinn wants this team to play. It's not always pretty and there is still a ton of work to be done in a bunch of areas, but you can see where the Rangers are heading.
What's Next
The Rangers play host to the Edmonton Oilers for a Saturday matinee (1 p.m.) at Madison Square Garden.