Chris Kreider lifts Rangers past Sabres with overtime goal
during the New York Rangers versus the Buffalo Sabres hockey game at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY, Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023 Credit: Ed Murray
Maybe Saturday night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden wasn’t exactly a must-win for the Rangers. But as annoyed as they were with their lackluster effort in Friday night’s loss to Edmonton, it was a game they really, really didn’t want to lose, especially heading into the NHL’s three-day Christmas break.
They needed overtime but got the victory they were seeking. Mika Zibanejad drove to the net, beat Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s desperate lunge and slipped a backhanded pass to Chris Kreider for the winning goal at 2:28 of OT in a 4-3 victory that sent the Rangers into the break at 23-8-1 with 47 points, enough to hold the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
“It probably wouldn’t have sat too well with us, losing two in a row going into the break, with where we are,’’ Jacob Trouba said. ‘’I mean we’ve had a good start to the year, up until this point. We’ve put ourselves in a good spot, so we deserve the couple days here, enjoy them and come back ready to go.’’
The Rangers will return to action on Wednesday when they host the Washington Capitals.
The Rangers held leads of 2-0 and 3-2, but each time Buffalo rallied to tie it. Casey Mittelstadt tapped in his own rebound at 6:50 of the third period for his ninth goal of the season to make it 3-3.
“There was a lot of resiliency tonight,’’ coach Peter Laviolette said. “It didn’t feel like we were coughing up leads, it felt like there was a hockey game going on. I mean, that was a good game . . . To be resilient like that, to come back from 2-2, to come back from 3-3, there was a lot to like about tonight.’’
Defenseman Ryan Lindgren, Artemi Panarin (power play) and Zibanejad had the Rangers’ other goals. Rasmus Dahlin and Jack Quinn scored for Buffalo. Igor Shesterkin made 27 saves, including three big ones in overtime.
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.
