A third-period surge propelled the New York Rangers to a 4-2 victory over the Utah Mammoth on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.
Vladislav Gavrikov opened the scoring for the Rangers at 17:18 of the first period, collecting his first goal of the season on a wrist shot set up by Adam Fox. Utah responded during the second period when Nick Schmaltz converted a backhand shot at 14:29 on the power play following a pass from Clayton Keller to tie the contest 1-1.
New York reclaimed the advantage early in the final frame. Gabe Perreault put the Rangers ahead 2-1 with a wrist shot at 3:15 of the third period, assisted by Alexis Lafreniere and Mika Zibanejad. J.T. Miller widened the margin to 3-1 at 12:47 with a deflected shot for his first goal of the season, assisted by Gavrikov and Tye Kartye. Utah countered at 14:57 when Andrew Peeke scored his first goal of the season with a snap shot off a feed from Anders Lee, cutting the deficit to 3-2. Eeli Tolvanen sealed the win with an empty-net wrist goal at 18:45, assisted by Will Cuylle and Igor Shesterkin.
Shesterkin made 28 saves on 30 shots to earn the victory and recorded an assist on the empty-net tally. Karel Vejmelka stopped 18 of the 21 shots he faced in the loss for Utah. The Mammoth finished 1-for-2 on the power play, while the Rangers went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.
With the outcome, the Rangers won their third straight game to improve to 3-1-0 on the season. Utah dropped to 2-1-0 following the defeat.
Both teams resume play on Monday, October 19. The Rangers host the Anaheim Ducks at 7:00 PM ET, while the Mammoth host the Pittsburgh Penguins at 9:00 PM ET.
