Vincent Trocheck scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 11:34 remaining and the New York Rangers enjoyed a successful home opener on Monday, beating the Arizona Coyotes 2-1.
The Rangers struggled to generate much offense until Arizona defenseman Matt Dumba was called for cross-checking Ryan Lindgren with 12:43 remaining.
New York regained possession after losing the subsequent faceoff and Mika Zibanejad was stopped twice in six seconds. After Coyotes goalie Connor Ingram slid across the crease for a left pad save on Zibanejad’s second slap shot, the Coyotes could not control the rebound.
Arizona defenseman Troy Stecher misplayed a clearing attempt near the left side of the crease and Artemi Panarin gained possession. Panarin then stepped into a shot from slightly above the left faceoff circle, and the puck caromed off Stecher’s leg to Trocheck, who deflected it past Ingram’s left pad.
Chris Kreider scored his fourth goal of the season in the opening period as the Rangers improved to 2-1-0 under new coach Peter Laviolette.
Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves as the Rangers won their fifth straight over Arizona and improved to 14-1-2 in the teams’ past 17 meetings. Shesterkin highlighted the win by making a right pad save on Jason Zucker’s penalty shot with 4:48 remaining after Barclay Goodrow took down the Arizona forward from behind in the right circle.
Clayton Keller scored on the power play for Arizona, which failed in a bid to open a season with consecutive wins for the first time since starting 3-0-0 in 2015-16.
Ingram finished with 26 saves in his season debut.
New York took the lead by turning effective defense into offense late in the first period.
Kappo Kakko forced a turnover from Keller along the right boards in Arizona’s offensive zone and moved the puck to Zibanejad. Zibanejad sped into New York’s offensive zone, and Kreider finished off the two-on-one by lifting the puck into the left side of the net at 14:11.
Arizona evened the game five minutes into the second when it kept the Rangers pinned in the defensive zone.
Logan Cooley made a pass to Nick Schmaltz from the left boards. Schmaltz made a backhand pass to Keller, whose one-timer from the right faceoff dot sailed by Shesterkin.
–Field Level Media
