DeAngelo, Rangers end Maple Leafs’ winning streak at six
Scores 52 seconds into overtime after Toronto ties it late in third period
via NHL.com
Tony DeAngelo scored 52 seconds into overtime, and the New York Rangers ended the Toronto Maple Leafs’ winning streak at six with a 5-4 victory at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.
DeAngelo one-timed a pass from Artemi Panarin on a 2-on-1 after Ryan Strome advanced the puck to Panarin from behind the Rangers net.
“I was yelling at [goalie Alexandar] Georgiev not to freeze it, I was pretty confident Strome could make the play like he did,” DeAngelo said. “Maybe [the Maple Leafs] thought it was going to be frozen because I think they kind of stopped. But I just joined the rush and Panarin made a great play, so I was just fortunate to finish it.”
Added Georgiev, “I initially froze it but then I saw Strome next to me and thought it was better not to let them change and be a 50-50 draw in our own zone. If we can have possession in overtime, it’s a pretty big deal.”
Strome had two goals and two assists, Panarin had three assists, and Georgiev made 44 saves for the Rangers (19-15-4), who have won three of their past four games, including back-to-back beginning with a 5-3 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday.
“Going into Friday’s game, if we said we would get a split or even three points we would have been happy, but four points in these two nights really changes the look of our season, I think. We’re right back in it,” Strome said. “It was a gutsy effort. It feels good to get the win. It would have stung a little not to leave here with two points.”
Auston Matthews had two goals and an assist, and Frederik Andersen made 33 saves for the Maple Leafs (21-14-5), who had won eight of nine but have allowed 15 goals over their past three games.
“I mean, points are one thing, but I think there are obviously areas of improvement for us when you look at the games,” Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly said. “I mean, you take what you can.”
Matthews one-timed a pass from William Nylander to tie it 4-4 with 53 seconds left in the third period when the Maple Leafs had six attackers on the ice. Toronto had trailed by two goals after two periods.
“I think we’re proud of the way we battled back,” Matthews said. “Obviously it would have been nice to finish it off, but I don’t think in any intermission or just coming into the third, we were never discouraged or anything. With the way both these teams play, high-powered offenses, you’re going to get your chances and we battled back.”
They said it
“I don’t think anyone was panicking when we gave up the lead. They had a lot of good chances and Georgiev played real well, but just like we got our goals, they got theirs, and sometimes that’s how the game goes, but we stuck with it and found a way to pick up the extra point.” — Rangers defenseman Tony DeAngelo
“Playing from behind is tough. We haven’t done that very much as a team here of late, but we’ve had to here now three games in a row. That’s not a good recipe for us, not a good recipe for anybody, so then you get a chance to talk about resilience. We were able to do that today, but obviously we’d like to flip this trend here and get back to playing with the lead.” — Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe
Need to know
The Rangers were without forward Brendan Lemieux, who will out three to four weeks after sustaining a broken hand on Friday. … The Maple Leafs were without forward Ilya Mikheyev and defenseman Jake Muzzin, who were each injured against the New Jersey Devils on Friday. Mikheyev had surgery to repair an artery in his right wrist and will be out at least three months. Muzzin is week-to-week with a broken foot. … Maple Leafs forward Adam Brooks played 4:50 in his NHL debut.
What’s next
Rangers: At the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN1, SNE, SNO, SNP, MSG, NHL.TV)
Maple Leafs: At the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday (6 p.m. ET; SN, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)
Serious summer Uno sessions.
Frederik Andersen joins Zach Hyman in the latest Leaf To Leaf presented by @Rogers. #LeafsForever
FULL EPISODE >> https://t.co/u30jjRJNtb pic.twitter.com/xUWX14Z9Pf
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) December 29, 2019