SALT LAKE CITY — At the end of the 2024-25 regular season, this three-game road trip could be a difference-maker for the Rangers.
Picking up five of a possible six points out west, after taking a 5-3 win over Utah Hockey Club on Thursday night at Delta Center, the Blueshirts have not only injected life back into their game, but they’ve done so against some notable competition.
There was a lot to like about the 2-1 win in Vegas.
And despite an overtime defeat at the hands of a hot Avalanche team in Denver, the Rangers put forth one of their better defensive efforts of the season.
The victory in their first game in Utah, however, was one they probably wouldn’t have come out on top of a month ago.
Keeping close with speedy Utah all game, the Rangers then took it to the home team in the final 20 minutes with two goals and an Artemi Panarin empty-netter.
The Rangers had to start the third period on the penalty kill, but they still managed to knot the game at 3-3.
Braden Schneider launched the puck up to Reilly Smith, who sniped one from the top of the left circle 28 seconds into the period for his ninth goal of the season.
Chris Kreider then collected the puck off a Rangers faceoff win and snapped it in, notching what was ultimately the game-winner and jumping into the corner boards to celebrate.
After responding to each of Utah’s two goals through the opening 20 minutes, the Rangers were forced to start the middle frame shorthanded after Arthur Kaliyev was called for high sticking at the tail end of the first.
It allowed Logan Cooley to go five-hole on Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin for the 3-2 lead just 57 seconds into the second period.
That came after the Rangers gave up the first goal of the game just a tick of a minute after the puck was dropped.
The counterattack the Blueshirts had in the first frame wasn’t nearly as prominent, and so it felt like a major swing in Utah’s favor.
Coupled with the abundance of time spent in the Rangers zone, Utah had the visitors scrambled at times.
Asked what sort of challenges Utah posed before the game, head coach Peter Laviolette pointed to its speed more than anything.
Such was the case from the moment the puck was dropped.
Utah pushed the pace and racked up three shots on goal in just over a minute, capitalizing on the third after Matias Maccelli put home a rebound.
The Rangers cashed in on their second shot of the game at the 3:52 mark when Panarin took a feed from Alexis Lafreniere and went bar down to even the score.
The funneling of pucks to the Rangers net just continued until Macelli buried another long rebound from Shesterkin to put Utah up, 2-1.
It looked like the Rangers were caught watching the play unfold because of how quickly Utah works the puck around.
Defense may not have been perfect through the opening 20 minutes, but the Rangers offense stayed potent.
Kaliyev later swooped in and pushed in a puck that trickled through Utah goalie Karel Vejmelka — off a Filip Chytil shot — for his first goal and point of the season, and his first as a Ranger, toward the end of the period.
