NY Rangers Pull Off Biggest Outdoor Game Comeback To Beat Isles In OT
Jared Silber. Getty Images.What. A. Game.
Sure as shit didn't start that way though. After the Rangers were escorted to the game by FDNY/NYPD while the Islanders wore regular suits like the nerds they are, the nerds controlled everything. An early goal by Erik Gustafsson was answered by three straight by the Isles in a four-minute span to take a 3-1 lead into intermission. Didn't take long to make it 4-1 after a Kreider penalty led to an Anders Lee deflection barely a minute into the second. From there though, the Blueshirts started to settle in. Trocheck buried a pair, the second with under two minutes to go, to take momentum into the final 20. Once again though, the Islanders responded early thanks to a wild sequence of events left Romanov wide open in front of an empty cage and it felt like it was just their game to win.
Not so fast.
What's the #1 rule when protecting a lead? Stay out of the box. The Isles said "fuck your rules" to choke the W away.
First, Barzal was called for a hook during 4-on-4 play to give the Blueshirts top-notch PP a chance to climb within 1. After Laviolette pulled Igor to make it a 5-on-3 advantage, a quiet Chris Kreider did just that in typical Kreider fashion with about 4 minutes to play:
Kreider with the deflection the power play and FOLKS … we've got a one-goal game 🚨 pic.twitter.com/5plnMUDOik
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 18, 2024
Next, after a Mayfield trip & another Igor pull handed the Rangers another two-man advantage, it was time for some Mika Magic to send MetLife into overtime:
MIKA MAGIC FROM THE ANGLE AND WE'RE TIED AT 5 🍿 pic.twitter.com/HVnFQ8LNSN
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 18, 2024
Then it took mere seconds for Artemi Panarin to rip the hearts out of all the Frankie Borelli's around the tri-state area:
CHAOS AT METLIFE. DID THE RANGERS JUST WIN?? pic.twitter.com/Bfmegyy7KH
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 18, 2024
Unbelievable. Yeah it wasn't the greatest Rangers effort of all time but it WAS the greatest outdoor comeback of all time. To do so on that stage against your biggest rival desperate for every single point they can get is the kinda shit you look back on after a magical season. The Islanders handed the big guns every opportunity to take two points & that's exactly what they did.
Chris. Mika. Panarin. Game.
VIVA LA BLUESHIRTS!!!!