NEW YORK --Derick Brassard was disappointed in his offensive play lately, feeling as though he wasn't doing his job well enough to help the New York Rangers win consistently. He had no points in his previous five games prior to Monday and even missed a game last week because of the flu.
Now he will head into the All-Star break feeling relieved and confident, because his career-best five-point game helped the Rangers defeat the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
Brassard's five points help Rangers get past Sabres
Forward tallies career best two goals, three assists
Brassard had two goals and three assists when the Rangers, who don't play again until Feb. 2, guaranteed they would enter the All-Star break, which begins after games are finished Wednesday, in second place in the Metropolitan Division with 59 points.
The Rangers (27-17-5) are 14 points behind the first-place Washington Capitals and three points up on the third-place New York Islanders. Buffalo (19-26-4), which plays against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, is last in the Atlantic Division with 42 points through 49 games.
"I was just worried about trying to get some scoring chances, that's where I was in my game," Brassard said. "I take my role really [seriously] on this team and I felt it has been a tough stretch for me the last two weeks, but I tried to answer with a good effort [Monday]. The most important thing is I did my job for the team. If everyone does their job here, we're going to have a good chance to win every night."
Brassard also had a five-point game that included a hat trick in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning last season. His previous high in a regular season game was four points in a 6-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 3, 2013, his first game with the Rangers following a trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
His five-point game Monday was the first five-point game for any Rangers player in the regular season since Ryan Callahan did it with four goals and an assist against the Philadelphia Flyers on March 6, 2011.
"We knew it was only a matter of time," Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh said of Brassard breaking out of his scoring slump. "You get an illness like that, it's tough to get your body back to feeling the way you want to feel as a hockey player. It's great to see him break through here before the break and obviously get some confidence back in his game."
In addition to Brassard, New York got goals from J.T. Miller, Mats Zuccarello, Viktor Stalberg and Dylan McIlrath. Jesper Fast had two assists and Henrik Lundqvist made 23 saves to send the Rangers into the break on a winning note.
It was a far cry from how they played in a 3-0 loss at the Ottawa Senators on Sunday, when coach Alain Vigneault criticized the Rangers' poor performance and blamed everyone but Lundqvist and Fast for the loss.
Vigneault said the loss in Ottawa "buckled" him because he didn't see it coming. It made him question his own opinion that the Rangers were heading in the right direction following wins against the Vancouver Canucks and Carolina Hurricanes.
He had renewed faith in his opinion of his team following the game Monday, when the Rangers blew a two-goal lead in the third period and got it back in less than five minutes. They even scored a power play goal, their second in the past 13 games (2-for-35).
"Definitely in the last I want to say month I think we have shown more consistency," Vigneault said. "I mean, we've [won] three out of four, other than that stinker we had in Ottawa. If you look at the way we've been playing, 5-on-5, we've definitely been getting better. We need to improve on our specialty teams and we need to be better on the road. We know that. But I do believe that this group is on the right track right here."
The Rangers had a lapse for less than two minutes early in the third period Monday, when Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons scored two goals in a span of 73 seconds to tie the game at 3-3 with 14:16 to play. Rookie center Jack Eichel had assists on each of the goals.
"It's nice to get a little bit of momentum going there," Eichel said, "but it's tough to give it back to them."
The Rangers responded with goals from Miller at even strength and Zuccarello on the power play in a span of 2:39 to regain a two-goal lead at 5-3 with 10:37 remaining. Brassard had assists on each of the goals before capping the scoring with an empty net goal at 19:24.
He opened the scoring in a six-goal third period by giving the Rangers a 3-1 lead at 1:06. He also had an assist on McIlrath's goal at 5:58 of the first period.
"They almost got us there, but we responded well," Lundqvist said. "It's about confidence and experience in that situation, and finding ways to win instead of finding ways to lose. That's the difference from being in the top half or the bottom half of the League, you find ways to win or you find ways to lose, because the difference is not big. A lot of teams are good. It was crucial for us to get it done."
The Sabres play the Senators Tuesday before the All-Star break. They've lost three in a row, all in regulation and are not in the same Stanley Cup Playoff predicament as the Rangers, but there is a sense of urgency to get a win.
"There are a lot of aspects in our game we need to clean up," Eichel said.
