Panarin rallies Rangers to 6-5 win over Islanders in outdoor game at MetLife Stadium

By VIN A. CHERWOO
AP Sports Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — After falling behind by three goals early in the second period, the New York Rangers kept their composure, kept up the pressure and got a big comeback win to remain perfect in outdoor games.

Artemi Panarin scored 10 seconds into overtime and the Rangers beat the crosstown-rival Islanders 6-5 in a Stadium Series game at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

“Just sticking with what we know,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said. “The whole group came together and everyone kind of stuck with it and got the result we wanted. It’s a pretty cool memory.”

Panarin knocked in the puck off Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson and goalie Ilya Sorokin and the puck trickled across the goal line after Dobson knocked the right side of the goal loose. The goal was confirmed after a review.

“I was flooded with emotions,” Panarin said. “I had to hold back tears. It was so much of a spectacle.”

Vincent Trocheck had two goals and an assist, and Erik Gustafsson, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad also scored for the Rangers, who won their season-high seventh straight and improved to 5-0 outdoors. Panarin, Alexis Lafreniere and Adam Fox each had two assists, and Igor Shesterkin finished with 36 saves.

“To win the way we did was incredible,” Zibanejad said. “There’s no better way to finish it off.”

Rangers coach Peter Laviolette was behind the bench for his fifth outdoor game, tying Joel Quenneville for the most in NHL history, and got his first win in the open air.

“These games that take place are special, I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of them,” Laviolette said. “There have been some good ones but this one has to be up there, near the top of the list.”

Brock Nelson had a goal and an assist, and Bo Horvat, Mathew Barzal, Anders Lee and Alexander Romanov also scored for the Islanders, who fell to 0-1-1 in outdoor games — with both losses coming against the Rangers. Dobson had three assists to top 50 for the season and Sorokin had 32 saves.

The Islanders pulled four points behind Detroit for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.

The second game in two days at the home of the NFL’s Jets and Giants drew 79,690 — the third biggest crowd for an NHL outdoor game and a little more than 9,000 higher than the attendance of the Devils’ 6-3 win over the Flyers here the previous night.

Islanders coach Patrick Roy fell to 3-3-3 since replacing the fired Lane Lambert on Jan. 20, and dropped his outdoor record to 0-1-1.

Rangers players arrived at the stadium wearing NYPD and FDNY hockey jerseys, while the Islanders rode in on fire trucks and were dressed in suits and ties. The start of the game was then delayed about 45 minutes to allow for the shining sun to move off the ice, and the temperature at puck drop at 3:48 p.m. was a windy 39 degrees.

After the Rangers pulled within one in the second period, Romanov pushed the Islanders’ lead back up to 5-3 at 1:53 of the third. It was his sixth of the season.

Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren was down on the ice and slow to get up after he was hit in the face by Romanov’s stick after he passed the puck out of the corner shortly before the goal. Lindgren headed to the Rangers’ dressing room due to a cut on his face.

The Rangers then had a 4-on-3 power play with just under six minutes to go, and Laviolette pulled Shesterkin for a two-man advantage. With the Rangers on a 6-on-4 advantage, Kreider deflected Panarin’s shot past Sorokin with 4:08 left to pull the Rangers within one with his 28th.

The Rangers were on another power play and pulled Shesterkin for the two-man advantage again and Zibanejad tied it 5-5 with a sharp-angle goal from the left circle with 1:29 remaining. It was Zibanejad’s 18th and the Rangers’ third power-play goal of the day.

“We just got to get a (penalty) kill,” Lee said. “Our killers did a great job on that 4-on-3, we come out of the box and they were able to get one at the end of that. We found ourselves in the box and weren’t able to get the kill tonight.”

Lee extended the Islanders’ lead to 4-1 with a power-play goal at 1:03 of the second as he deflected Pierre Engvall’s shot from the right point through his legs and past Shesterkin. It was his 14th.

After Lee was sent off for slashing, Trocheck deflected Panarin’s shot from the slot for his 17th at 5:36 to get the Rangers within two.

Trocheck then pulled the Rangers to 4-3 from the left side with 1:36 remaining in the middle period.

Gustafsson got the Rangers on the scoreboard 1:28 into the game on the team’s first shot on goal. It was his fifth.

Rangers 21-year-old rookie forward Matt Rempe, the first player to make his NHL debut in an outdoor game, then dropped his gloves and exchanged punches with the Islanders’ Matt Martin before the ensuing faceoff.

The Islanders then scored three times in 3:14 span to take the lead.

UP NEXT

Rangers: Host Dallas on Tuesday night before returning to New Jersey to face the Devils on Thursday night.

Islanders: At Pittsburgh on Tuesday night to open a two-game road trip.

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