The Rangers needed to pack a feel-good win with them on their way to Boston on Friday night.
And a 5-1 victory over a down-bad Ducks team fit the bill for the Blueshirts, who will need to bring what they brought to the Madison Square Garden ice on Friday and then some when they take on the other top team in the East, the Bruins, on Saturday at the anti-Garden — er, TD Garden.
This was an opportunity to get back in the win column after the Rangers lost three of their previous four games while getting outscored 18-9.
This was also a game that could’ve hurled the Rangers further into a downward spiral if they lost to a club that is now on a five-game losing skid, as well as losers of 13 of their last 14 games.
Instead, the Rangers — who were without K’Andre Miller for a second straight game due to personal reasons, and Nick Bonino because he was too under the weather to go last minute — powered to a win behind two goals from Chris Kreider and yet another game-winner from Jimmy Vesey.
Chris Kreider and Ryan Lindgren celebrate Kreider’s goal during the first period. Robert Sabo for NY Post“When things aren’t going the way you want with your games, it’s up to us to change it,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “We’re responsible for our fate daily. What we put into it is what we get out of it. I thought we put a lot into it tonight. It was good to get one. We’ll wash it off on the way to Boston and get ready for tomorrow.”
Since Bonino was ultimately scratched after taking warmups, Adam Edstrom drew into the Rangers lineup and made his NHL debut after getting recalled from AHL Hartford just hours earlier.
The 161st-overall pick in 2019 ended up scoring his first NHL goal with seconds left on the clock to cap the club’s two-goal third period.
The late switch hardly affected the Rangers, who scored five unanswered after the Ducks struck first in the opening period.
“It’s a dream come true, for sure,” Edstrom said. “Just making your NHL debut is a dream, but making it at Madison Square Garden is special.”
After killing off back-to-back penalties, including a nine-second five-on-three stretch, the Rangers surrendered the first goal for a second straight game and the sixth time in the last seven games.
As the game progressed, however, the Rangers picked up the pace and eventually got to their game.
Frank Vatrano of the Anaheim Ducks watches as Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers takes a shot during the first period. Robert Sabo for NY PostNot only did Kreider score for the first time since Dec. 2, but his two goals helped him surpass Adam Graves for the third-most goals in franchise history at 281.
One was the game-tying tally in the first period, while the second was a nifty redirection on the power play in the middle frame.
The Rangers picked up the forecheck in the second period, and Vesey notched his seventh goal of the season as a result.
Taking a slick feed from Adam Fox, Vesey went stick side on Ducks goalie Lukas Dostal for the 2-1 lead.
Jonathan Quick defends the net during the second period when the New York Rangers played the Anaheim Ducks. Robert Sabo for NY PostAnaheim struggled to stay out of the box after that, taking eight straight penalties from the second period into the third. The Rangers just had to stay disciplined from there, and they did.
Mika Zibanejad then added another power-play goal at the end of the final frame before Edstrom capped the scoring.
Goalie Jonathan Quick did the rest with nine saves in the third period en route to 29 on the night to remain undefeated in regulation so far this season.
A win over the second-to-last team in the NHL is important.
For it to come on the eve of a bigger matchup, amid the Rangers’ need for a mental boost, was even more crucial.
Ship it up to Boston.
