Rangers rally from two three-goal deficits to beat Oilers in shootout

EDMONTON, Alberta — It was a rough first period for Igor Shesterkin against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night at Rogers Place. In fact, it had been a rough last two periods for Shesterkin against Connor McDavid and Co.

In November, the Rangers held a three-goal lead over the Oilers after two periods but allowed four goals in the third and lost in regulation. On Friday night, Shesterkin allowed four goals in the first period, the Rangers were down by three and the Russian goaltender didn’t know what to think.

“After the first period, I didn’t know, does [coach Gerard Gallant] want to change me or not?’’ Shesterkin said. “So I just waited for his call.’’

Gallant decided to stick with Shesterkin — and the Rangers rallied from not one but two three-goal deficits in what became a 5-4 shootout victory.

After Chris Kreider scored his second goal to bring the Rangers within 4-2 after two periods, Alexis Lafreniere and Mika Zibanejad scored in the third to tie it and Lafreniere won it in the sixth round of the shootout.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Kaapo Kakko scored in the first round of the shootout. No one else scored until Lafreniere beat Jack Campbell with a forehand-backhand move for the winner.

The Rangers have won seven straight games for the second time this season, a first in franchise history. They are 33-14-8 (22-4-3 since Dec. 5) and are one point behind the second-place Devils in the Metropolitan Division. Edmonton fell to 30-19-7.

According to the Rangers’ website, they have scored at least four goals in seven straight games for the first time since February 1991.

Gallant, who insisted he didn’t think his team had played badly in the first period, said he didn’t feel the need to pull Shesterkin after the period despite the fact that the goalie also looked shaky in Wednesday night’s 6-4 victory over Vancouver.

“I really believed that, for one, the way we played in the first, I felt good about our team, and I was going to see what happened in the second period,’’ Gallant said of pulling Shesterkin. “And then if the first 10 [minutes] went well, then, you know, he’s going to battle back. He’s a star goalie, and he’s got a lot of pride in there.

“I mean, obviously, if they would have made it five or six, then definitely. But he played hard and he battled. He made one huge save [on McDavid’s one-timer] when it was 4-2 there early in the second. And then, from that point on, he played great.’’

Gallant was asked at the morning skate how he felt knowing that McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer, entered the game sitting on 99 points.

“Well I’d sure like it if he had 99 after the game tonight, but I don’t think that’s going to happen,’’ he said with a grin.

McDavid did get his 100th point, in his 56th game, with a secondary assist on Nugent-Hopkins’ power-play goal that opened the scoring at 7:52 of the first period. The Oilers then got goals 19 seconds apart from defenseman Tyson Barrie and forward Derek Ryan to go up 3-0 by the 12:30 mark of the first.

Kreider got the Rangers on the board with a power-play goal at 13:36, but Leon Draisaitl scored his 32nd goal — and his league-leading 20th power-play goal — to make it 4-1 at 18:27.

But Shesterkin (25 saves in regulation and overtime) made a big glove save on McDavid and a couple of other good saves to keep the Rangers in the game.

When Lafreniere was sent off at 5:55 of the second period for holding, things looked bad for the Rangers, but Kreider scored a shorthanded goal at 6:26 to pull the Rangers within 4-2.

Then Lafreniere scored his ninth goal at 1:36 of the third period and Zibanejad scored his 30th at 13:10 with the Rangers skating five-on-three.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.