Rangers Hang On to Defeat Wild in Overtime 3-2

The Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers met up for the first time this season on Thursday evening, Mar. 13. The Wild’s roster remained the same as it has for the past week with Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Kirill Kaprizov out of the lineup while the Rangers were without Adam Edstrom and Adam Fox. 

The goaltending battle was between Filip Gustavsson for the Wild and Igor Shesterkin for the Rangers. The game started out with an end-to-end flow with some strong shots. It went back and forth through the final period, and overtime was needed to determine a winner. Despite the Wild’s attempt to come back, the Rangers pulled it out in overtime 3-2. This moved the Wild’s record to 37-24-5 and the Rangers’ to 32-28-6. 

Game Recap

The first period started out with some back-and-forth action as both teams had their chances, but the goaltenders stood tall and, despite some close calls, didn’t allow anything by them. The first ended scoreless. 

The second period had several penalties but only one goal for the New York Rangers. Vincent Trocheck scored on his own rebound as he sniped one over Gustavsson’s shoulder to make it 1-0. Will Cuyelle and K’Andre Miller assisted him and that was how the second period ended. 

It was the Wild’s turn in the third as they scored early in the period to tie the game 1-1. The goal went to Marcus Johansson; Gustav Nyquist and Jared Spurgeon assisted him. The Rangers answered back shortly with a goal by Jonny Brodzinski, who Zac Jones and Matt Rempe assisted and took a 2-1 lead.

The Wild responded on the power play a couple of minutes later as Frédérick Gaudreau made a nifty move in front of the net and got it past Shesterkin to tie the game up 2-2. Ryan Hartman and Spurgeon assisted him; it was Spurgeon’s second assist of the night. The third period would end tied 2-2, and they went to overtime. Braden Schneider secured the Rangers win with a goal early in the overtime, and he was assisted by Artemi Panarin and J.T. Miller.

The Wild are still in the midst of their homestand and they will remain at home to host division rival, the St. Louis Blues on Saturday evening, Mar. 15. The Rangers will also be in action on Saturday as they remain on the road to face the Columbus Blue Jackets.