The Rangers bounced back from their loss against the Oilers to edge the Colorado Avalanche in a shootout on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. Kevin Shattenkirk had two assists and scored the deciding goal in the shootout while Henrik Lundqvist stopped 31 shots on goal, including an incredible save in the final minute of regulation, in the 3-2 shootout victory. >> Box score
First period:
- 12:07 NYR Chris Kreider (Power Play); Assists: Kevin Shattenkirk, Mats Zuccarello
Second period:
- 08:13 COL Gabriel Landeskog (Power Play); Assists: Tyson Jost, Tyson Barrie
- 10:53 NYR Kevin Hayes; Assists: Mats Zuccarello, Kevin Shattenkirk
Third period:
- No goals
Shootout: NYR (2-1)
Adam Rotter:
- Like Saturday's loss, this is the kind of game that I think the Rangers are going to play a lot of this season and sometimes they will win and sometimes they will lose.
- There are going to be a lot of tight games, especially if Henrik continues to play well, and the difference will come from special teams and if the Rangers are able to get that extra goal.
- The Rangers wanted to shoot more and play harder in the offensive zone and I thought that for most part they achieved that. Varlamov was terrific for Colorado and made some saves that would likely be in the back of the net against a different goalie.
- The thing to keep an eye on is how the Rangers respond from game to game based upon what needs to improve. They have calmed down defensively after the Carolina game, which they wanted to do, and they wanted to get more things going offensively and they did that tonight.
- Filip Chytil looked nice on the wing with Hayes and Zuccarello, Kevin Shattenkirk looked more like himself and Neal Pionk had a nice return.
- I don't see a problem with Pavel Buchnevich sitting out tonight. He's going to get back in soon, maybe not tomorrow, but he won't be out of the lineup for long. David Quinn is trying to set a level of expectations and he has seen, through the preseason and training camp, the kind of player that Buchnevich can be and he just wants him to be that guy on a more consistent basis. I don't think this is the same kind of thing as when Buchnevich would sit or get moved around under Alain Vigneault. The Rangers brought in Quinn for how he communicate and develops players and that is what he is trying to do right now with Buchnevich, Tony DeAngelo and pretty much everyone else on the roster.
- They go back to back with tomorrow's game against the Caps and it will be interesting to see how that goes after last weekend's back to back against Buffalo and Carolina.
What's Next
The Rangers have a quick turnover and will hit the road as they travel to Washington, D.C. to play the defending Stanley Cup champion Capitals at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.