NEW YORK — For the first dozen minutes of the first period, the Rangers had reason for hope. Sure, they have a hole to dig out of in the Eastern Conference standings and a tough schedule remaining. Yet here they were, a team of talented players up 3-0 on one of the Western Conference’s most dangerous teams. New York seemed on its way toward a third win in four games.
Maybe, just maybe this cursed season was turning around.
Dallas quickly dispelled that notion. As the Rangers allowed odd-man rush after odd-man rush, the Stars needed three minutes to cut the deficit to a goal. “Offensive zone, we put ourselves on the wrong side of everything in the first period,” coach Peter Laviolette said. Dallas tied the score in the second, then battled back to force overtime after the Rangers seized a 4-3 lead in the third. Artemi Panarin committed a hooking penalty in the extra period, and Jamie Benn finished the Rangers off on a redirect goal.
Ryan Lindgren slammed his stick on the net as soon as the game ended, sending broken wood flying to the glass. The Rangers, needing to make up ground in the standings, had let a point slip away.
“It’s frustrating,” Adam Fox said. “We have been playing a lot better hockey but we’ve got to get two points out of it. One’s better than zero, but it definitely should’ve been two points tonight.”
To make matters worse, New York lost a key player to injury. Let’s get into that and other takeaways from the game.
Lafrenière breaks drought, line thrives
Alexis Lafrenière’s fast start to the season feels like a long time ago. He entered Tuesday’s game without a goal in his previous 13 games. Then, in the first period, Lindgren started a rush by feeding Panarin with a cross-ice pass through the neutral zone. Panarin dropped the puck to Lafrenière after entering the offensive zone, and the winger beat Jake Oettinger from the offensive zone faceoff circle. Lafrenière punched the air with excitement.
New York needs him to score if it’s going to be successful, and for the first time since Dec. 8, he had.
It was the start of a strong night for Lafrenière and his line as a whole. Less than three minutes of game time later, he backhanded a shot on Oettinger during a net-front scramble. The goalie made the save, but after some more jockeying around the net, Panarin grabbed a loose puck and shot. Oskar Bäck blocked it, but the puck went to Will Borgen, who put another shot on net. Trocheck tipped it in. The sequence came after a near goal for the Stars. A shot got through Jonathan Quick, but Mika Zibanejad swept it out from the crease before it went over the line.
The Rangers’ top line continued to generate offense as the period progressed. Dallas lost track of Lafrenière as the Rangers broke the puck out of their own end, and Panarin found his wing for a breakaway. Lafrenière backhanded a shot through Quick’s legs for his second goal of the night and 11th of the year.
The Panarin-Trocheck-Lafrenière night was strong all night but particularly dominant in the first period. The Rangers led 3-0 in goals with them on the ice and 8-3 in shot attempts, per Natural Stat Trick.
“They generated a lot,” Laviolette said. “They were dialed into the game. Created a lot of chances, scored a lot of goals for us.”
All three players on the line were also on the ice for Trocheck’s power play tip-in goal in the third period, but they were also on when Thomas Harley tied the game less than five minutes later.
“This one sucks, especially after our start,” Lafrenière said after. “I feel like we were playing well, (goalie Jonathan Quick) made some big saves again. We can’t keep giving up good chances after good chances. Eventually it’s going to go in.”
Rangers lose Chytil
Filip Chytil did not come out for the third period after sustaining an upper-body injury, the team said. The center’s last shift of the game came with 4:02 left in the second period. He did not appear to take any hard contact on the shift.
Laviolette, who usually doesn’t delve much into injuries after games, did not offer any specifics when asked about the severity of the injury. He said Chytil was being evaluated, then repeated the same thing when asked if Tuesday’s injury was related to his injury history with concussions.
Chytil has had multiple concussions, including one that cost him almost all of the 2023-24 season. That makes any upper-body injury extra concerning until the nature of it is clarified.
Chytil missed seven games earlier this season with an upper-body injury suffered in a collision with K’Andre Miller. He received medical consultation outside the organization afterward, and that consultation determined he did not suffer a concussion. Still, he did not immediately return to game action.
“I know my body,” he said when he came back. “I know what’s going on, even with my head,”
Chytil’s line struggled against the Stars before his injury, but he had been playing well going into the game. He has four goals in six games after the holiday break.
Miller turnover costly
With the Rangers leading 4-3 late in the third, K’Andre Miller seemed to be in control while with the puck in the defensive zone. A forechecking Sam Steel changed that. He charged at Miller, breaking up an attempted pass behind the net to seize possession. He fed Harley for the game-tying goal.
“There’s things that go wrong on every goal,” Laviolette said. “There’s definitely things you could’ve done better inside of that goal as well. There are a couple breakdowns in that particular instance.”
Though Miller made the initial mistake, Trocheck was out of position defending Harley.
“My fault on the fourth goal,” the center said postgame.
Power play goals to go around
The last time the Rangers and Stars played, New York kept Dallas from scoring in 17 minutes of power play time. The Stars needed only 1:34 with the man advantage to break that spell Tuesday. After a Braden Schneider holding penalty, Mavrik Bourque put an odd-angle shot on Quick. The goalie made the stop, but the puck kicked to Evgeni Dadanov standing next to the net. He finished, bringing the Stars within a goal.
New York didn’t generate much on its first power play attempt, but it came through late in the game when Trocheck tipped in a Zibanejad shot. It was a much-needed goal for the unit, which has dropped to 24th in the league with a 17.8 percent success rate.
“Good to have the power play come through at a big time, which we were missing the last few months, honestly,” Fox said.
Unfortunately for the Rangers, Dallas got another chance at the power play after a Panarin hook. All overtime power plays are four-on-three, which are harder to defend. The attacking players have more space with which to work. Benn shoved Fox in front of the net to get positioning, then finished when Robertson put a pass on his stick.
“Obviously I’d like to turn around, tie up his stick, but there’s a seam pass as well that you’re a little worried about,” Fox said. “It’s just how it goes on those four-on-threes sometimes.”
(Photo: Dennis Schneidler / Imagn Images)
