Game Recap: Rangers 4, Wild 2

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Igor Shesterkin made 46 saves, including 21 in the third period, and the New York Rangers won their fourth straight game, 4-2 against the Minnesota Wild at Grand Casino Arena on Saturday.

“This is a good feeling around here right now,” said New York captain J.T. Miller, who played in his first game after missing the past five with an upper-body injury. “It’s been a hard, hard year. But it feels good to win some games and try to string some together here.”

Vladislav Gavrikov had a goal and two assists, and Noah Laba, Jaroslav Chmelar and Vincent Trocheck scored for the Rangers (28-30-8) who are 6-1-2 in their past nine games. Adam Fox had two assists.

“Obviously we thought we had a great first period, probably great first half,” New York coach Mike Sullivan said. “… And (Shesterkin) was obviously terrific tonight. I just thought we had the right intentions. We were playing a north-south game. We were playing a straight-ahead game. I think when we play fast, we are fast.”

Matt Boldy extended his goal streak to three games, and Danila Yurov also scored for the Wild (38-17-12), who ended a five-game point streak (3-0-2) and have lost three of their past four games (1-1-2).

“I think the story of tonight’s game was, we tried to skill our way into the game and then halfway through the game we played the way that we can play and need to play, and played a harder style of game,” Minnesota coach John Hynes said. “And I think that was the tale of the game. First half we didn’t have it. Second half we had it, but it was too late.”

Laba gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 2:41 of the first period. Gabe Perreault sent a cross-ice pass to Laba in the right face-off circle, where he put a wrist shot on net that deflected in off the left skate of Wild defenseman Nico Sturm.

Gavrikov made it 2-0 at 15:00. Fox's wrist shot was tipped by Tye Kartye and bounced off Minnesota defenseman Quinn Hughes in front. Gavrikov then backhanded the loose puck towards the crease and Gustavsson kicked it in off his left pad.

“That was a screen in front, 'Foxy' tried to deliver the puck and then I was just the first in the rebound and try to shoot it. I wasn’t sure if the goalie seen that, or was just late. Kind of a broken play … but I try to just put it on the net.”

Boldy cut the deficit to 2-1 while on the power play just 35 seconds into the second period. He took a drop pass from Hughes, skated into the offensive zone and beat Shesterkin to the glove side with a wrist shot from the slot.

“I thought our first unit looked great tonight,” Wild defenseman Brock Faber said. “Passed up a couple shots. I don’t know how many Grade As we had but I want to say we definitely should have scored more than one. That’s hockey, and he played great. They played great, and they outplayed us for the first half and we weren’t able to claw back.”

Chlemar increased the lead to 3-1 on a breakaway at 8:41 with a backhand shot that squeaked under Gustavsson's right arm.

Trocheck scored just 22 seconds later at 9:03. He deflected Gavrikov's shot-pass from the top of the left circle which then went into the net off the skate of Minnesota forward Ryan Hartman.

“For a lot of the first half of the year we couldn’t see the puck going in the net,” said Miller. “I think right now we’re executing on a lot of the plays. … Finally get those pucks to go in the net that we were missing the first half of the year.”

The Wild outshot the Rangers 42-9 over the final two periods.

Yurov brought Minnesota to within 4-2 when he finished a backdoor pass from Vladimir Tarasenko from in tight at 7:19 of the third period.

“Yeah of course we were down. We want to score. We want to win,” Wild forward Mats Zuccarello said. “So of course you get frustrated, but that’s hockey.”

Captain Jared Spurgeon joined Mikko Koivu (1,028) as the second player in Wild history to skate in 1,000 games. He also became the ninth defensemen drafted in the sixth round or later to appear in as many contests.

"I love having seen the family there and obviously sharing with these great guys," Spurgeon said. "We have a special group in here. Just walking in every single day and seeing faces like this every day is awesome. It's a blessing for us, and we're very lucky, but yeah, we'll get back at it tomorrow."

NOTES: Perreault extended his point streak to a career-high four games (two goals, five assists). ... Kartye has seven points (two goals, five assists) in a five-game streak. ... Miller had one shot on goal in 19:15 of ice time. ... Hughes recorded his 61st assist of the season and reached 40 with the Wild in 35 games played, the fastest in franchise history to that career mark, besting forwards Brian Rolston (65 games) and Andrew Brunette (65 games). He also extended his point streak to seven games (one goal, eight assists).