Chris Kreider scored the tiebreaking power-play goal with 8:20 remaining as the New York Rangers blew a two-goal lead before rallying for a 5-3 victory over the visiting St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night.
The Rangers used their timeout to design a play and took the lead 30 seconds later. After Artemi Panarin missed the net, Adam Fox gained possession and ripped a slap shot from near the blue line and Kreider tipped the puck into the net after parking himself at the center of the crease.
Kreider’s 35th goal came 4:13 after Patrik Nemeth’s first goal as a Ranger banked off St. Louis forward Ivan Barbashev’s right skate while goalie Ville Husso was sprawled on the ice well outside of the crease.
Panarin finished off the comeback with an empty-net goal and New York avoided a third straight loss.
New York’s recovery occurred after St. Louis took the lead on three straight shots by Ryan O’Reilly, Barbashev and David Perron in a span of 2:14 late in the second.
Alexis Lafreniere and Ryan Strome also scored for the Rangers. Fox collected three assists and Panarin added two assists.
New York’s Igor Shesterkin made 29 saves, including two third-period stops on former Ranger Pavel Buchnevich during a late power play.
Husso allowed four goals on 28 shots as the Blues saw a four-game winning streak halted and a seven-game points streak (6-0-1) stopped.
Lafreniere opened the scoring 8:55 in when he crashed the net and slid the rebound of a shot by Fox. Strome made it 2-0 with 3:24 left in the second period when he waited for Husso to lift up his right leg and slid the puck from the red line under the goalie’s legs.
After Strome’s goal, the Blues quickly seized control.
O’Reilly put a one-timer from the left circle over Shesterkin’s right shoulder after a backhanded cross-ice pass from Brandon Saad with 2 1/2 minutes left. The Blues tied the game 67 seconds later when Vladimir Tarasenko banked a pass off the boards to Barbashev, who beat Barclay Goodrow on the rush and put a wrist shot over Shesterkin’s right shoulder.
The Blues took the lead with 16 seconds left when O’Reilly was behind the net and connected with Perron, whose one-timer from the lower edge of the right circle sailed over Shesterkin’s left shoulder.
–Field Level Media
