TORONTO (AP) - The New York Rangers were confident they would get scoring chances against Toronto, and they made the most of the them”.
Tony DeAngelo scored 51 seconds into overtime and the New York Rangers beat the Maple Leafs 5-4 on Saturday night, snapping Toronto’s win streak at six games.
Ryan Strome had two goal and two assists for the Rangers (19-15-4). Artemi Panarin picked up his third assist of the night when he set up DeAngelo’s winner in the first minute of the extra period.
Ï was surprised (goalie Alexandar Georgiev) played it to me,” Strome said. “… Sometimes in overtime you trade chances and Georgiev made one or two great saves and we went the other way. It feels good to get the win. It would have stung a little bit to not get the two points, but it feels good.”
Brett Howden and Mika Zibanejad also scored for New York.
ï think they tilted the ice a little more than we’d like in the third,” Rangers forward Chris Kreider said. “They got very aggressive. I thought we did a good job of protecting the middle for the most part. Guys were blocking shots, doing the right things, getting pucks out on changes. We weathered the storm there and then obviously a big play in overtime.
“There was a buy-in tonight. Guys not necessarily felt their best after the schedule the way it was. It’s never an excuse. Every team is dealing with their own stuff. For us to come in here on the road against a very good team, in a very hard building to play in, and come out with two points is big for us.”
Alexandar Georgiev stopped 44 shots.
“It’s a good challenge,”Georgieve said. “Winning is always fun, i’m glad for that. At the end of the day, it was exciting hockey.”
Auston Matthews scored twice to push the Maple Leafs (21-14-5) into overtime. William Nylander and Pierre Engvall also scored.
The Maple Leafs found out before the game that they lost defenseman Jake Muzzin, the only Stanley Cup winner on their roster, with a broken foot.
“We miss Muzz,” said Toronto head coach Sheldon Keefe, now 12-4-1 since he took over. “It’s more than what he does on the ice for us. There are a lot of intangibles he brings from in the locker room to the bench, talking between whistles, and all those things.
Matthews agreed.
“Everything,” he said when asked about Muzzin’s absence. “A lot of leadership, a lot of physicality. He held guys accountable in the dressing room. Obviously, we’re going to miss him quite a bit, but it’s an opportunity for others to step up.”
Toronto entered the final 20 minutes down 4-2. The Leafs pulled within one when Engvall redirected a point shot from Tyson Barrie with 13:38 remaining.
Moments after Matthews flubbed a chance to tie the game, he scored off a pass from Nylander, netting the tying goal with 53 seconds remaining in the third.
After Strome put his team in front 2-1 midway through the first period, the 26-year-old native of Mississauga, Ontario, scored another to give his club a two-goal lead early in the second period.
It was Strome’s fifth and sixth goals to go along with six assists in 18 career games against Toronto.
In the absence of forward forward Ilya Mikheyev (wrist surgery), 23-year-old Adam Brooks made his NHL debut. The Winnipeg native played in 171 regular season and playoff games for the AHL Toronto Marlies before playing in his first NHL game.
The Maple Leafs entered the game 2-5-1 in the second game of back-to-back outings this season.
It did not start well for Toronto as Howden opened the scoring 1:41 into the game.
The Maple Leafs evened the score on the power play. From behind the net, John Tavares found Nylander out front.
But the Rangers went ahead 2-1 when Panarin picked off a pass into the middle from Engvall and set up Strome for the go-ahead goal.
The Rangers had an opportunity to go ahead by two goals, but Andersen stopped a penalty shot from Pavel Buchnevich a few shifts after Strome’s goal.
Strome lifted the Rangers to a 3-1 lead early in the second period with a 56-foot slap shot.
Toronto pulled to within 3-2 when Matthews grabbed a loose puck and scored his 25th of the season. But Zibanejad restored the two-goal lead, coming down the right side and freezing Anderson before slipping a shot through his pads.
NOTES: The Maple Leafs were without forward Ilya Mikheyev (wrist surgery) and Muzzin (broken foot). Toronto announced before the game that Mikheyev would miss a minimum of three months to recover from a laceration to his right hand in New Jersey on Friday. He underwent surgery and spent the night in the hospital. Muzzin blocked a shot from Devils defenseman P.K. Subban in the first period. The Toronto defender finished the game, but has been listed week-to-week with a broken foot.
UP NEXT
Rangers: At Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
Maple Leafs: At Minnesota on Tuesday.
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