Jonathan Quick failed at his first three attempts to get win No. 400.
When he needed one win to become the first U.S.-born goaltender to reach the historic milestone, the Rangers fell just short — including once in overtime.
But with the Rangers carried by the jolt of J.T. Miller, their recent acquisition back in the Garden for a second stint, and third-period goals from K’Andre Miller and a slumping Mika Zibanejad, the Blueshirts emerged with a 4-2 victory over the Golden Knights to snap a three-game skid that threatened to become disastrous at this stage of the calendar.
And Quick secured his latest place in NHL history.
Quick, who finished with 34 saves, helped keep the Rangers’ deficit from spiraling out of control in the opening frame, allowing just one Vegas goal despite facing six high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.
On one, he snared a quick shot from Jack Eichel in the slot that easily could’ve been a goal. He collected another save despite a cluster in front of the net with five minutes left.
His only blemish that frame occurred when Eichel capitalized on the power play with 18 seconds left — after the Rangers penalty kill couldn’t get a clear.
But the Rangers managed to break even with the Golden Knights twice, using goals from Alexis Lafreniere and Zibanejad as responses to goals by Eichel. That second one, though, was perhaps most encouraging.
Zibanejad’s struggles have stretched throughout most of the season, forcing the reliable duo of Zibanejad and Chris Kreider to get split up at times and even prompting head coach Peter Laviolette to drop him from the first power-play unit.
But after Rempe drew a penalty in the third, Zibanejad ended up back on the ice with the first unit to start the chance. And after a J.T. Miller shot managed to sneak through, Zibanejad snuck behind the Vegas defensemen to tap in the rebound.
Then, six minutes later, K’Andre Miller ripped in his fourth goal of the season, while Artemi Panarin followed with a late power-play goal to give the Rangers a 4-2 lead that withstood any late push.
And in J.T. Miller’s second game back with the Rangers, they had the fuel that has become expected after the reunion with their new first-line center. He opened with a two-point debut against the Bruins.
Then, he added two assists one night later, capping an evening where the Garden roared after his introduction pregame — and this time, everything ended with a win.
Just as the Rangers had started to make some strides, just when they’d started to climb the Eastern Conference standings enough to become buyers before the deadline, they hit another skid.
And when they needed another win, Quick, as he has the past two seasons, delivered one. This time, they had the presence of Miller to ignite everything, too.
