Recap: Zibanejad, Fast Lead Rangers to Win Over Predators

NASHVILLE - Facing a sprint to the All-Star break, a daunting slate of road games ahead of them and a frustrating December nearly behind, the Rangers' veterans decided it was time to gather the group for a talk.
"The guys had a meeting today and talked about playing winning hockey and understanding situational hockey, and I thought we did a heck of a job of it tonight," David Quinn said. "I give our leadership group a lot of credit. Our captains and Hank and Shatty, they got together with the team - we didn't even have a team meeting today. I give those guys a lot of credit because they took the bull by the horns, and we played winning hockey when it mattered."
When it mattered was over the final 20 minutes on Saturday night at Bridgestone Arena, when the Rangers - staring at a one-goal deficit against the reigning Presidents' Trophy winners in a hostile environment - took that bull by the horns, too.
And it was Jesper Fast, returning to the Rangers' lineup after five games out with an upper-body injury, who set up Marc Staal's game-tying goal in the third period, then blasted home the go-ahead score as the Rangers mounted a third-period charge to a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators.

Fast's game-winner was his second goal of the night, and he added an assist as the reunited line of Fast, Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider combined for 10 points on the night. Zibanejad assisted on all four Ranger goals, a new career high, and Kreider scored for the fourth consecutive game to go along with a pair of assists. Kevin Hayes also picked up an assist to extend his career-high points streak to nine games.

Nick Bonino scored twice for the hosts, both goals assisted by Kevin Fiala, who scored one of his own, too, but the Predators still lost for the sixth consecutive time (0-5-1).
But the Rangers' rally, and the evening, was only complete once the Blueshirts had stared down more than four minutes of the third period playing a man short - two minutes of a penalty kill and 2:15 with Pekka Rinne on the Nashville bench for an extra attacker. The Rangers are well acquainted with the position and have struggled mightily to put away games, but this time, Quinn said, the air was different.
"You could feel it," the coach said. "There was excitement, guys understood what they needed to do. There was a different feel tonight for sure."
"The last three, four minutes, it was intense, but we played for one another in here," said Henrik Lundqvist, who made 34 saves. "Guys just came up big at the right time."
In doing so, the Rangers snapped a three-game skid (0-1-2) but also earned points for the eighth time in their last 10 games (3-2-5). It was their fifth road win this season, but their first in regulation.
To get there, they had to overcome a one-goal deficit to begin the third period facing the league leader in goals-against average in Rinne, and a Predators team that entered the game 18-1-0 with a lead through 40 minutes.
"It was important after they scored their third one to settle things down and know that it's a one-goal game heading into the third," Lundqvist said. "It felt like we had a good feeling in here."

It was Staal who snagged the equalizer 4:23 after second intermission, breaking up a play in the Rangers' zone and then joining a 3-on-2 rush as the fourth man coming late. Fast slipped a backpass to him and Staal rifled one past Rinne for his third goal this season and a 3-3 game.
Fast broke the final tie 3:13 later with a blistering one-timer of Zibanejad's feed, beating Rinne through the wickets to make it his first multigoal game this season and the third of his career.
Quinn spoke before the game about the good feeling he had with Fast returning to the lineup and joining Zibanejad and Kreider on the top trio, so you can imagine how the coach felt after the game.
"You put Fast and Cody (McLeod) in our lineup, it just gives us a whole different look. We were more competitive, we were more passionate," Quinn said. "Obviously Quickie gets rewarded statistically - like I said before the game, there's a reason we put that line together."
"Hopefully the young players watch him play. I think that's the way to play in this league, night in, night out," Lundqvist said, referring to Fast. "To get points consistently you need to do the little things right all the time, and he finds the way. It's huge to have him back."
McLeod was returning, too, after five weeks out with a fractured hand, and he wasted no time in making his presence felt, plowing through P.K. Subban on his first shift of the game and so incensing the blueliner and the Nashville bench that they wound up with a bench minor for unsportsmanlike conduct 2:35 into the game. And once again, as it did in their lone man-advantage on Thursday against Columbus, it took the Rangers' power play just seven seconds to cash it in, Zibanejad slapping a pass for a deft deflection from Kreider beside the net.

The goal gave Kreider his fourth career 20-goal season, coming in Game 37 of 2018-19 - the fifth-fastest any Ranger has reached 20 goals. He has scored six of them over his last six games. But the lead it gave the Rangers was erased by Bonino's first of the night, on a power-play deflection of Mattias Ekholm's shot at 8:43. Fast restored the lead 3:51 into the second when Kreider stripped Ekholm behind the Nashville net and fed Zibanejad for the relay to Fast, whose shot clipped Rinne on its way in.
Fiala answered that one just 53 seconds later, and Bonino's second of the night, a putback of his own shot that Lundqvist had stretched to stop, came on another power play at 10:35 and gave Nashville its first lead in four games.
At that point, Zibanejad said, "It's just mentality. We didn't stop playing."
Quinn made a point of putting the victory in perspective - "It's one game. Let's not order rings here," the coach said. "We've got more hockey games to play and more games to win" - continuing next on Monday in a New Year's Eve matchup with the Blues.
But that hardly means the Rangers didn't leave for St. Louis feeling good about this one. "Coming in here and beating this team the way we did, battling back in the third," Lundqvist said, "that's big for this group."
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