Kevin Klein scores both goals as Rangers edge Ducks

ANAHEIM, Calif. — After getting his pocket picked for a goal in the first period, Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein rebounded with the first two-goal game of his career as the Rangers began a critical California trip with a grinding 2-1 victory over the Ducks on Wednesday night.

In a grinding match to open the three-game set that continues Thursday night in Los Angeles, the score was tied at 1 in the third period when Klein drove to the net with defenseman Hampus Lindholm at his elbow when Eric Staal’s shot from the point glanced off Lindholm’s skate to Klein’s stick and past goaltender John Gibson at 13:19.

“I wanted a little redemption after their first goal, my bad,” Klein said. “Then we battened down the hatches at the end.”

In his pregame briefing, the keys to the game, coach Alain Vigneault said, were to “defend well, make sure our forecheck is good and win puck battles,” and the Blueshirts did that much of the evening, and Klein’s pair secured the victory.

After the game, Vigneault said, “I thought we played one of our better defensive games of the year . . . The teams had to work for every inch. We got better in the second and third.”

Antti Raanta (8-5-2), who made 34 saves in his last start, a 4-2 defeat of the Sabres on March 6, made 22 saves, as the Rangers hung on when the Ducks had an extra attacker, as Ryan McDonagh, sliding to block a shot in final minutes was struck in the face, but skated off.

With the win, the Rangers (40-23-7, 87 points) edged back into second place in the Metropolitan Division, but the Islanders (38-21-9, 85 points) have two games in hand.

“It’s a huge win,” Raanta said. “The team did a great job in front of me. There might have been six or seven shots in the first period I didn’t even see, but they (the defense) blocked shots and took the puck away on rebounds all game.”

There wasn’t a lot of room on the ice in Honda Center, as each team had trouble getting through the neutral zone. The Rangers blocked nine shots in the first 20 minutes, and shots were 5-4 in favor of the Ducks.

The lone goal in the first period came when one mistake made the difference. Corey Perry swiped the puck from Klein, who was trying to shake him in the left circle in the Rangers’ zone, and Perry found Jamie McGinn coming down the slot, who beat Raanta from 20 feet at 14:03. The Rangers had one shot on Gibson during a power play when Clayton Stoner was in the box for tripping Eric Staal, Mats Zuccarello’s tip went wide early and Stepan’s one-timer from the left circle was stopped.

After the 10-minute mark, the Rangers had just two shots.

At 3:11 of the second period, Klein found some redemption when Tanner Glass’ shot came out to the right circle, where the defenseman slid the puck past John Gibson’s extended pad. It was Klein’s seventh of the season and started when Viktor Stalberg initially threw the puck behind the net on another good shift by the fourth line. But the Rangers couldn’t take advantage of a second power play, when Ryan Getzlaf was in the box for slashing Kevin Hayes at 4:33. There were some good setups, but got no shots through to Gibson.

But the Rangers gained some traction, moving the puck north-south quicker and creating more scoring opportunities. With 9:05 left in the second, J.T. Miller was stopped by Gibson’s glove at the right post. The Rangers had seven of the last eight shots and had another good shift but Rick Nash was denied in front by Gibson. With 3:02 left, Stepan’s wrister off a rush was absorbed by Gibson.

The Ducks has their best segment of the second period in the last 1:30. Ryan Kesler took a hard hit from Glass, Raanta denied Jakob Silvferberg, who had a hat trick against the Devils in the previous game. The Rangers had 13 shots after 40 minutes, the Ducks 12.