Big Third Period Comeback Victory for the Rangers at the Capitals

Five-goal barrage in the third to get the win

Washington, DC- The New York Rangers came to our nation’s capital to face Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals for a huge game before the Christmas break starts. It was a highly entertaining game with a little bit of a questionable reversal, but the Rangers had a huge final period to take the full two points as they defeated the Caps by a final score of seven to three

Raddysh returns with a goal

The Rangers went on a rush down the ice as Braden Schneider started the play down the middle for a three-on-two. A quick pass to Johnny Brodzinsky on the near side, then a cross-ice pass to Taylor Raddysh while Schneider was used as a fake puck taker to allow it to get to Raddysh, and then he scored his first goal of the game at 14:57 of the first period.

Tied game with some fancy passing

The Capitals began the middle period with some quick tic-tac-toe passing to fool the Rangers and tied the game. Ryan Leonard entered the Rangers’ zone down the far side, then a fast pass to Aliaksei Protas toward the near faceoff circle. Trailing the play was John Carlson from the far point, who received the pass from Protas and, with a quick shot, beat Shesterkin at 23 seconds of the second period.

Great save, wiped out by the replay booth

The Capitals were on the power play and won the faceoff. Leonard at the near point made a quick pass to Connor McMichael down low on the far side of the net. He tried to deflect the puck in, but it went toward the other side of the crease. Then Dylan Strome got to the rebound to sweep it in, and Shesterkin made the big glove save.

The review room up in Toronto took a closer look at the play and saw Shesterkin’s glove was inside the net, and completely over the goal line with the puck inside the glove. The goal was allowed to go on the scoreboard, and the Capitals took the lead at 8:40 of the second period on the power play.

Tied game again from the Rangers

The Rangers tied the game up at two when they were given a chance on the power play. Vincent Trocheck was hanging around the far post of the net when he saw Mika Zibanejad up top and zinged a pass toward him. Zibanejad took a quick shot, and the puck deflected off Will Cuylle, who was screening the goaltender, and scored at 11:14 of the second period on the power play.

The Caps take the lead again

The Capitals head down the ice to create another rush, and this time they got the lead back when Hendrix Lapierre was going down the slot. He made a quick pass to Sonny Milano toward the near side, took the shot, but Shesterkin made the save. He left a rebound for Protas trailing the play down the far side and scored at 12:11 of the second period.

Five-goal explosion for the win

The Rangers needed to find a way to get back into this game, and in the third period, they came out with a huge five-spot to put themselves ahead and to take the full two points in regulation. The scoring started with the Rangers moving the puck out of their zone. Noah Laba skates down the middle and leaves the puck toward Cuylle.

The pass was a bit of a floater from the far point toward the near side faceoff circle as Raddysh was skating backwards toward the end boards, but he put himself into position to take a backhand shot at the net. The puck somehow deflected in off a Washington defender and in at 8:10 of the third period to tie the game.

Then they took the lead when Scott Morrow at the near point took a slap pass toward the far corner.
Artemi Panarin picked the puck up and skated up the far boards and curled toward the top of the zone. He gave a wrist shot toward the net, but in front was Alexis Lafreniere as he deflected the puck off his stick and in at 9:18 of the third period for the lead.

Trocheck won the faceoff at the near circle toward Gabe Perreault, then he passed it back to Brodzinsky. A quick hard pass toward a quick skating Trocheck at the near post and a quick tap in for Trocheck to beat the goalie for the two-goal lead at 13:43 of the third period.

The Rangers continued to score two more goals. The Capitals pulled their goalie for the extra attacker, but the Rangers quickly gained control and made a rush down the ice for the empty net. quick passing from Lafreniere and Zibanejad toward Panarin, who scored in the empty net at 17:44 of the third period, then another goal from Trocheck for his second of the game at 18:09 of the third period.

Big win before the Christmas break

The Rangers once again found themselves behind on the scoreboard after the second period, but found a way to get back into the game in the third period, as they will take the next few days off to celebrate the holidays before they face the New York Islanders at the UBS Arena in Elmont. But this team needs all the points they can get to force one of the top three teams to get a better position in the Metropolitan division, but for now, they are in the wildcard spot.

“I was happy for the players. They’ve worked so hard to try to generate more offense. It’s nice to see the puck go in the net for them. You know, I thought… You know, I thought the first period was a fairly even period. I thought they outplayed us in the second period. You know, Shesty made some big saves for us. And I thought we responded really well in the third, obviously, to score as many goals as we did. I just think it’s a game of momentum.

We give up a goal in the first shift of the second period. I think the beginning of periods and, end of periods are critical moments in games that potentially can shift momentum and even outcomes. And so they’re such important elements of the game. You know, we give up one in the first shift of the second period. I’m sure it gave their team juice. And, you know, give them credit. They pushed hard. And the second, they’re a good team.

I was happy for our guys and proud of our guys for how we competed and just hung in there. And I thought we did a really good job responding. The third, so I’m really happy for the players, you know. I know that we’ve been, we’ve played a lot of hockey, you know, we’ve, we’ve dealt. Well, we’ve dealt with a number of, whether it’s illnesses or injuries, whatever it may be, and these guys don’t look for excuses. They’re just trying to find ways to win every night. I’m happy for them that they were able to score some goals tonight,” said Head Coach Mike Sullivan

TRAILING IN THE THIRD PERIOD: Tonight was the first time since Feb. 22, 1972, at Montreal, that the Rangers trailed heading into the third period and ended up winning by four or more goals. The Rangers have tallied their fifth third-period comeback win of the season, tying them for the third-most in the NHL.

FIVE-GOAL PERIOD: The Rangers scored five goals in a third period for the first time since March 30, 2024, at Arizona, and the fifth time since the 1993-94 season.

ARTEMI PANARIN: Notched his 10th multi-point game of the season, bringing his career points as a Ranger to 588, the ninth most in franchise history. He became the second-fastest player to reach 200 goals with the Rangers, trailing Bill Cook (363 GP), and factored on his 99th game-winning goal, tying Chris Kreider for the sixth most in franchise history. Through his last 14 games, he has tallied 18 points (8G-10A) and six multi-point games.

WILL CUYLLE: Scored his 10th goal of the season, fourth on power play, and notched his first career three-point game. He has five points (1G-4A) through his last four games. The Rangers’ record when Cuylle scores a goal this season is 9-0-0.

TAYLOR RADDYSH: Returned to Capital One Arena, having played for Washington last season, and scored two goals for the Blueshirts. He collected his fifth career multi-goal game and his fifth career game with three or more points.

VINCENT TROCHECK: Tallied his first three-point game of the season and has five points (3G-2A) through his last four games.

ALEXIS LAFRENIERE: Scored his 100th career NHL goal. His eight goals this season rank sixth on the Rangers. New York’s record when Lafreniere has scored a goal this season is 7-0-1.

CARSON SOUCY: Skated in his 400th career NHL game.

GABE PERREAULT: Has collected a point in his last three games (1G-2A).

New York Rangers News:

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• Rangers Outlast the Flyers in the Shootout
• Rangers Edge the Blues in Overtime

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