Rangers Cap Great Comeback with a Win

(Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke / Newsday)
New York Rangers left wing Rick Nash defends Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald

It looked bleak for the first 40 minutes, but in the third period the Rangers found the formula to beat Flyer’s goalie Steve Mason and get back in the game.

The Flyers had scored a goal in each of the first two periods through Mark Streit and Wayne Simmonds to take a 2-0 lead; they looked well on their way to a victory. However, it wasn’t for a lack of trying by the Rangers — the team had 24 shots through the first two periods, but Steve Mason was very sharp. It didn’t seem like the Rangers would be able to get one by him.

The Rangers kept up the effort, doing all that they could to try and get a victory, and it finally worked well for them. The Rangers also needed a little bit of luck to beat such a good goalie but they finally got some when, from a shot, the puck landed perfectly onto the stick of Dan Girardi who was standing in front of a wide open net. He buried it to make the score 2-1.

The Rangers continued to up the pressure, putting 18 shots on goal in total for the period. Then with just over a minute to go, Chris Kreider made a nifty move in front of the net to get Deke Mason and put the puck into the net to tie the game.

A lot of credit has to go to Rangers goalie Antti Raanta who played a really strong third period to keep the Rangers within striking distance. He made a couple big saves at 2-0 and some even more impressive ones at 2-1, including a deflected shot destined for the net in which he made a very heads up save.

Once in overtime the Rangers looked sharp and Keith Yandle found himself on a breakaway when he was hooked a few times forcing a penalty shot. Yandle skated in and took a beautiful wrist shot that went top right and Mason never had a chance giving the Rangers a 3-2 overtime win.

Appropriately, only the three players on the ice when Yandle scored the goal earned the three stars of the game. Yandle was star number one for scoring the winning goal, Raanta was two for his terrific performance, and Steve Mason was third for his effort in stopping 42 shots.

The Rangers close out the pre season Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden vs. the Boston Bruins.