Rangers erase three-goal deficit in shootout win over Oilers to extend streak

EDMONTON, Alberta — The Rangers refuse to slow down.

Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere scored in the skills competition Friday night to give the Rangers a 5-4 win over the Oilers at Rogers Place. They rallied for their seventh consecutive victory by scoring three unanswered goals over the second and third periods to storm back from the deep hole they had fallen into during the opening 20 minutes.

After the Oilers came into the Madison Square Garden back in November and rallied back from a 3-0 deficit to take a 4-3 win, the Rangers essentially did the same thing to Edmonton in their building.

“I think we owed them a little bit,” said Adam Fox, who — on his 25th birthday — assisted on Chris Kreider’s 4-2 goal in the second and on Mika Zibanejad’s game-tying power-play goal in the third. “You’re never happy blowing a lead. It was nice to get a little revenge from the last time we played them.”

Trailing by three at the start of the second period, the Rangers found themselves on the penalty kill after Lafreniere was called for holding Zach Hyman just under six minutes into the frame.

After a deflating first period, the Rangers were still pushing when Adam Fox sprung Chris Kreider for a shorthanded opportunity. Kreider’s pass, intended for Mika Zibanejad, was blocked, but it came right back to Kreider and he buried it at 6:26 of the second period for his second goal of the game.

Lafreniere, who has played some of his best hockey over the past 10 games, cut the Oilers’ lead to one by scoring from the right faceoff circle off a feed from Kakko roughly at 1:36 of the third period.

The Rangers stayed the course, and when they earned a 5-on-3 power play later in the frame, they did not flinch. Zibanejad wristed one home to knot the score at 4-4 with 6:50 left in regulation, and the Rangers ultimately forced overtime.

“We just said the game is far from over, you’ve got 40 minutes,” Gallant said. “It’s the new NHL, it’s not like the game is going to be over. We battled hard and found a way.”

Igor Shesterkin’s recent struggles in goal continued in the first period, but he bounced back in the second and backstopped the Rangers to two points. The rest of the team’s play in front of him didn’t do the netminder any favors, but a couple of delayed reactions cost the Rangers. Giving up four goals on 12 shots in the first period, Shesterkin finished with 25 saves on 29 shots, including key saves in the shootout.

In each of his past five games, Shesterkin has given up three or more goals. In total, the 27-year-old has allowed 17 goals on 147 shots.

Head coach Gerard Gallant and director of goaltending Benoit Allaire were in a tough spot when it came to deciding whether or not to pull Shesterkin in favor of Jaroslav Halak, who has been on his game lately and has gone 7-0 in his past seven appearances. With the Rangers facing another game Saturday night in Calgary, it was an impossible to decision when taking into consideration so many factors, such as the competition, Shesterkin’s confidence and what was best for the team.

The Oilers, who were forced to dress 17 skaters in the wake of Klim Kostin being sick and the team having no extras due to cap constraints, came out with an apparent chip on their shoulders after they had lost their previous two games to the lowly Canadiens and Red Wings.

An ill-advised interference penalty from Vincent Trocheck, who knocked Oilers goalie Jack Campbell’s stick away, quickly ignited a downward spiral for the Rangers in the first period.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins capitalized on that power play, during which Connor McDavid notched his 100th point of the season with an aassist.

Shortly after that, the Rangers’ fourth line and third defensive pair got caught chasing the puck around. As the Oilers peppered Shesterkin with shots, a juicy rebound popped out to Tyson Barrie, who buried it for a 2-0 lead at 12:11.

Just 19 seconds later, Derek Ryan snapped one past Shesterkin from the right faceoff circle.

The Rangers finally got on the board on a power play at 13:36, when some tic-tac-toe passing from Artemi Panarin, Zibanejad and Kreider ended with the Kreider scoring his first man-advantage tally since Nov. 13. But K’Andre Miller’s delay of game penalty for chipping the puck out of play put the Rangers back on the penalty kill.

The first-period onslaught just continued from there. From behind the Rangers net, McDavid found Leon Draisaitl for the one-timer to the top corner for a 4-1 lead.