ANAHEIM, Calif. — This was so close to feeling so different.
Instead, the Rangers head home with a middling feeling of disappointment, colored by lingering knowledge their inability to win two in a row has become pervasive, if not downright annoying.
The Blueshirts dropped a 4-3 contest in a shootout against the Ducks on Saturday afternoon, finishing up their four-game Western swing 2-1-1. Like so much of this season, there was good and bad in almost equal measure, now going 10 games trading wins and losses, the most recent back-to-back victories coming just before Thanksgiving.
“It is disappointing, because we had an opportunity to end this on a really positive note,” coach David Quinn said. “We ended it on a disappointing note.”
There was quite a bit more melancholy in the locker room than one might expect after what really was a successful trip, and that’s understandable because the Rangers (16-12-4) were up, 3-2, with just under two minutes in regulation, had a handful of great chances in the 3-on-3 overtime and were even leading the skills competition. A lot of that came from Mika Zibanejad, who scored twice for the second straight game and was the best player on the ice by a mile.
But goalie Henrik Lundqvist did not have his sharpest game, allowing a screened power-play goal to Hampus Lindholm with 1:46 remaining in regulation, then beaten on terrific moves from Ondrej Kase and Jakob Silfverberg in the third and fourth rounds of the shootout, respectively, losing one point — and the chance to make it a really pleasant cross-continental flight.
“I think every time you have an opportunity to get two points — you’re not going to be there every night, but I think right now we’re playing good hockey and putting ourselves in a spot where we can get the two points,” said Lundqvist, who made 39 saves but remains winless in his past four starts going back to Thanksgiving Eve.
“Me personally, I want to be part of it and try to help get wins. It hasn’t bounced my way the last week or so, but I feel like I’m doing a lot of good things. Try to control what I can control.”
The only part of the game the Rangers didn’t really control was the second period, when the Ducks (14-15-4) outshot them 18-3. But despite a 2-0 lead turning into a 2-2 tie, Zibanejad opened the third by toasting Cam Fowler and jamming one past goalie John Gibson at 1:14 for a 3-2 lead. The Blueshirts had a great chance for a cushion on a power play midway through the third, but couldn’t generate much.
The lead lasted all the way until Brady Skjei took a tripping penalty late in the third and Lindholm’s shot from the slot snuck by Lundqvist’s blocker.
“We had a chance on the power play to kind of close it out, we don’t, and they capitalize on their power play,” said Zibanejad, now with 11 goals on the season. “We had some chances in overtime. But this one stings.”
Zibanejad opened the scoring on a breakaway 10 seconds into the game, and it was quickly followed by his partner in the Blueshirts’ dynamic duo, Artmei Panarin, getting his 19th of the season on a left-circle rifle. But after a Silfverberg power-play goal midway through the first, Lundqvist said he “played the percentage” by committing to stay with Adam Henrique as the former Devil came up the left side. When Henrique’s centering feed bounced out to the point, Lundqvist was wildly out of position and Erik Gudbranson easily shot one into the gaping net.
“Unfortunately it ended up on their stick,” Lundqvist said.
It was that hint of disappointment overriding what the Rangers know was a rather good trip. But they’re honestly trying to make the playoffs, so points in the standings are what really matter, and losing one at the end hurt.
“We wanted six points, but I guess taking five isn’t a bad trip,” Quinn said. “You can’t do what everyone else is doing if you want to do something special.”