Jonathan Marchessault’s goal in the third round of the shootout was the only score of the tiebreaker Friday as the visiting Vegas Golden Knights beat their old coach, Gerard Gallant, and the Rangers, 3-2 in Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers were playing without leading scorer Artemi Panarin, who suffered a lower-body injury in Wednesday’s game against the Arizona Coyotes, but they took a 2-1 lead into the third period on goals by Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, before Dylan Coghlan’s goal at 14:44 of the third period tied it, 2, to force overtime. The teams traded chances in the five-minute extra session, but neither managed to score .
The game closed out a stretch for the Rangers in which they played 10 games over 17 days. They went 6-3-1 over that stretch, to improve their record to 19-7-4. Now, they are off until Wednesday, and then they are off for the Christmas break.
Gallant insisted he had no bitterness toward the Golden Knights, who fired him.
"Not now, no,’’ he said at the Rangers’ morning skate. "It's two years ago. No, you move on.’’
Gallant had guided the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup finals in 2018, but the team lost in the first round of the playoffs the next year, and when it got off to a 24-19-6 record in his third season, Gallant was fired Jan. 15, 2020. He was replaced by Pete DeBoer, the former Devils coach who’d been fired by the San Jose Sharks a month or so earlier.
"They're a good team,’’ Gallant said of the Golden Knights. "They had a ton of injuries early in the year, and a ton of guys missing, and they kept winning. And so, they're a real good hockey team. No doubt about that.’’
Gallant sent out his fourth line – featuring former-Golden Knights enforcer Ryan Reaves – for the game’s opening faceoff. Reaves, who has said many times how he enjoyed his four years in Vegas, had nevertheless told reporters at the morning skate that he would be playing his hardest against his old club, and added, "I'll be looking for heads.’’
But as far as sticking it one’s old team, it was ex-Ranger Brett Howden who got the first laugh, scoring the game’s first goal at 6:49 of the opening period for Vegas. Howden, who scored 16 goals in three seasons with the Rangers – one last season – whacked in his own rebound for his third goal of the season.
Vegas held the territorial edge for most of the opening period, but Alexandar Georgiev – making his 100th career start and starting for the fifth time in seven games since Igor Shesterkin went on injured reserve – was sharp,and gradually, the Blueshirts began to generate more and more good scoring chances. Zibanejad tied when he ripped a wrist shot by Vegas goalie Laurent Brossoit 13 seconds into the second period.
Then, with Vegas’ Nicolas Roy sitting out a slashing penalty, Zibanejad sent a seeing-eye diagonal pass from the left wing boards to the far post where Kreider tapped it in for his 18th goal of the season and a 2-1 lead at 10:25 of the second.
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