Rangers Third Period, Burns the Leafs

By Daniel Feuerstein | March 5th, 2026 | New York, NY

Big four goal third period for the win

The Rangers hosted the Toronto Maple Leafs while wearing their Centennial Jerseys, honoring the players who began the modern era after the lockout that canceled the entire 2004-2005 season. Two struggling teams trying to finish the season the right way, and while the Rangers did call up some of their players from Hartford of the AHL, they were missing Captain J.T. Miller as he was placed on Long Term I.R., Sam Carrick and Vincent Trocheck didn’t skate due to Roster Management towards the trading deadline, the Rangers found a way to earn their victory and it was their third win inside regulation on home ice by a final score of six to two.

Recap

Another bad start for the Rangers as they allowed the first goal of the game to get past Igor Shesterkin at 13 seconds of the first period when Matias Maccelli stuffed the puck in from a quick pass from William Nylander. But the Rangers tied it up later in the first period. Will Cuylle carried the puck inside the Maple Leafs’ zone and tried to pass it, but it was blocked. The puck was lively and went around the far boards back to the point as Braden Schneider ripped a shot, and Cuylle, who remained at the net, deflected the puck in at 6:45 of the first period.

The Leafs retook the lead as  John Tavares at the far side made a pass to Matthew Knies at the point and skated just a few inches inside the Rangers’ zone. A cross-ice pass to Easton Cowen as he snaps a shot from the top of the near faceoff circle and beats Shesterkin at 5:27 of the second period. The Rangers went to the power play and made a rush up ice. Johnny Brodzinski accepted the pass down the near side. As he entered the offensive zone, he saw Taylor Raddysh in front with the pass. The save was made by Joseph Wall, but the rebound went directly to the trailer in Vladislav Gavrikov, and he put the rebound home to tie the game again at 7:29 of the second period.

The Rangers broke out with a four goal explosin to take the lead and the victory. The Leafs tried to clear the puck out of the zone, but Mika Zibanejad leapt in the air and grabbed the puck before it would cross outside of the blue line. He sent a quick shot towards the net as Alexis Lafreniere was camped in front and deflected the puck past Woll to take the lead at 5:38 of the third period. Then a two-goal lead as Jaroslav Chemlar grabbed the loose puck that went off a Dakota Joshua’s stick. He skated all the way down and beat Woll for his first National Hockey League Goal at 10:27 of the third period.

Another rush for the Rangers led by Zibanejad. down the near side. He slows up and passes it back to the far point to Adam Fox, then a quick pass to a trailing Lafreniere going down the slot, but sees Zibanejad set up at his favorite spot inside the near faceoff circle and blasts one off the inside of the far post and in at 11:19 of the third period. The Rangers got a sixth goal as Cuylle took the pass from Lafreniere, skated down the near side, and shot it into the empty net for his second of the game at 17:09 of the third period.

With both Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin returning from injury, the Rangers have earned six out of eight points in these four games since returning from the Olympic Break. As you can see, if these two didn’t get injured in the home game against the Utah Mammouth after the Winter Classic, maybe the Rangers could’ve had an opportunity to climb back into a wild card position for a playoff spot. But the retooling has officially begun with the trading of Artemi Panarin, and now Trocheck is on the Roster Management list to be traded as well.

Mike Sullivan’s Comments:

“You know. I wish I had an answer for it. You know, for that. But I also, I understand, you know, like. This is… It’s not an easy circumstance. “You know, we scratch. We don’t play Troach, Sam. You know, all this happens today, and that, you know, these guys are a close-knit group, their friends, their teammates, and it affects people. So we’re trying to do our best to focus on the task at hand. I thought we grabbed hold of it after that. I give the guys a lot of credit. I thought we played hard. I thought we got better as the game went on. And then we had a little bit of success. We scored a couple of goals. I think that always helps with the energy.

The game has so much momentum. And, you know, in the third, obviously, we grabbed some momentum. But we were able to stack a few shifts in a row. Together. And ultimately, that led to some of the goals that we got. But I’m happy for the players. I think it’s nice for them to win at home. It’s nice for them to feel good about what went on out there. Melosh scores his first just with everything going on. How nice it is to have a moment like that where you kind of see the joy of it. It’s great. You know, I think everybody gets excited when they see, you know, a player like that get his first NHL goal. I think everybody always remembers that one; you never forget it. You know, it was a really nice goal on top of that, um, but you can just see the joy that all the players feel. For Yarrow, when he’s able to score his first NHL goal. It’s great for the whole team.”

Mike Sullivan on scratching both Carrick & Trocheck for Roster Management

“We tell them the truth. We’re honest with them. They deserve that. And so obviously, it’s not an easy circumstance for those guys. They’re great teammates. You know, these guys have been a big part of this team this year. In years past and so. Um. As I said to you guys this morning, it’s… You know, it’s not an easy circumstance, but we’re doing our very best. To try to handle it the right way.”

MIKA ZIBANEJAD: Recorded his third three-point game of the season and his 10th career three-point period, becoming one of seven players in franchise history to have recorded three or more points in a period. He surpassed Walt Tkaczuk (71) for the eighth most multi-point periods with the Rangers (72).

IGOR SHESTERKIN: Has helped the Rangers earn a point in all four games since he returned to the ice on Feb. 26, and in 13 of his last 16 decisions (9-3-4). His 20 games allowing two or fewer goals this season are tied for the seventh most among all NHL goaltenders.

VLADISLAV GAVRIKOV: Tied up the game with his 11th goal of the season on the power play, tying Nick Holden (2016-17) for the sixth most goals by a defenseman in their first season with the Rangers. He is one of three defensemen with the Rangers to have scored 11 or more goals in a single campaign in the past 10 years.

JAROSLAV CHMELAR: Scored his first career NHL goal and became the 21st Czech-born player to score a goal with the Rangers.

ALEXIS LAFRENIERE: Tallied his fourth three-point game of the season and his 10th multi-point game of the season, tied for third-most on the Rangers. He has recorded at least one point in back-to-back games and has tallied eight points through his last six games (4G-4A). The Rangers’ record this season when Lafreniere has scored a goal is 8-2-1.

WILL CUYLLE: Notched his second multi-goal game of the season and the third of his career. He has recorded at least one point in four of his last six games (3G-2A).

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