The Rangers are actually 1-2 in games that require a skills competition — er, shootout — to choose the winner after Saturday night’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Canadiens in Montreal.
Head coach Peter Laviolette has gone with the identical first two skaters, Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad, in all three.
The team’s first shootout in Minnesota on Nov. 4, a 5-4 defeat, got here after Vincent Trocheck served because the third shooter. His shot was saved by Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
And when the Rangers won their next one, a 4-3 victory over the Blue Jackets on Nov. 12, it was Alexis Lafreniere who scored the game-winner on an awe-inspiring backhanded shot.
So when it got here right down to it Saturday night, Laviolette turned to Lafreniere within the third spot once more.
“He’s way up within the lineup for us to shoot,” Laviolette said of Lafreniere, whose shot on Sam Montembeault was saved by the Canadiens goaltender. “We haven’t had loads of them. We haven’t gone to [many] shootouts. … But he’s high up there. The times that he has shot, he’s done an excellent job.”
Panarin is 1-for-3 within the shootout this season, while Zibanejad is 0-for-3.
Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick has happened to be in net for all three shootouts this season.
The 37-year-old has denied the Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov, the Blue Jackets’ Patrik Laine and Alexandre Texier, in addition to the Canadiens’ Nick Suzuki. The post/crossbar has saved Quick twice.
The Canucks will come into Madison Square Garden only one point behind the Rangers within the standings after they defeated the Devils, 6-4, on Saturday at Prudential Center.
It’ll be the second meeting between the Canucks and Rangers. The primary, a 4-3 additional time win for the Rangers, got here on Oct. 28 in Vancouver.
Trocheck had one other impactful game Saturday night, when he scored the Rangers’ first goal and assisted on the second for his tenth multi-point performance of the season.
Only two Rangers since 2006-07 have had as many games with three or more assists as Trocheck, who has 4 on the season. He joined Panarin and Jaromir Jagr.
Rangers captain Jacob Trouba leads your complete NHL with 121 blocked shots.