SAN JOSE, Calif. — The ongoing challenge presented by this different kind of New York Rangers season was never more severe than it was here on Tuesday after Tomas Hertl scored at 19:58 of the third period to send what appeared to be a Blueshirt victory into overtime.
“It’s a test, this road trip in which we’re playing good teams has been a test, but we have to continue to stay positive and learn from the good and the bad,” Henrik Lundqvist said after Kevin Shattenkirk scored the lone goal of the shootout in the bottom of the third for a 4-3 victory over the Sharks. “Emotionally it was a challenge, too, after what we went through in LA [on Sunday].
“Overall, I’m really happy with the way we responded. We played a really good game against a really good team.”
Before the match, David Quinn had noted the team “had taken a step back” recently. The battle-level had dropped in defeats in Chicago and LA that kicked off this trip that ends Thursday in Anaheim. The Rangers were becoming an easy opponent against which to play. Losses are one thing. They happen. Lack of acceptable effort is another. It is unacceptable under any circumstance.
“I thought we did so much well in this game, there is no reason we can’t do it consistently,” said Chris Kreider, who scored twice in the third period to give his team leads of 2-1 and 3-2. “After the last couple of games it would have been easy to hang our heads, which I think we did the last couple of years, but we made adjustments, got coached up and were ready.
“There’s good stuff in this room.”
The Blueshirts, who would have slipped into 31st-overall with a defeat, recorded their first victory on the road after five defeats (0-4-1) and their second in the last six games (2-3-1) overall. The game in which Lundqvist sparkled throughout broke a four-game losing streak for the netminder, as well.
“It’s a challenge mentally not winning,” said the King, who faced 34 shots. “But you have to be realistic, too. But we should feel good and get a good read from playing this strong game.”
Structure, for a large part, returned. For the first time in a long time, the Rangers controlled play below the hash marks and even the goal line off a strong forecheck.
“The way we played all night, I thought we deserved this outcome,” said Shattenkirk, now two-for-two with two decisive goals in the shootout after having also gotten the winner at the Garden against Colorado on Oct. 16. “Giving up that goal at the end was tough, but I think we did a good job sticking with it. We did that all night.”
Quinn, who scratched Pavel Buchnevich for the second time in seven games, again presented remade lines. A moment of truth is probably nearing for Filip Chytil (and general manager Jeff Gorton), with No. 72 nailed to the bench following his second shift of the third period that ended with 14:05 to go. Chytil played a season-low 8:53 centering fourth-line wingers Cody McLeod and Vinni Lettieri. Upon returning home, management will have to decide whether this is the best place for the 19-year-old Chytil to develop.
But that is for a later time. This is about the club’s — and Lundqvist’s — resilience after Hertl’s whippet from about 10 feet extended the match after Neal Pionk had been double-teamed off the puck behind the net in an extra-attacker situation.
“When the puck drops in overtime, you have to tell yourself to regroup,” said Lundqvist, who jammed his left shoulder when McLeod fell back onto him during a scramble with 4:52 remaining in the second period. “You can’t be upset. You can’t.”
Each team had a power play in OT. The Rangers, who failed on consecutive power plays in the first period after Mats Zuccarello’s goal negated an early Brent Burns goal, did not come too close. The Sharks, however, did. Indeed, they came mighty close when Burns sent a sizzler to the net, only to be denied by Lundqvist’s snapping glove with 0.5 seconds remaining.
“I didn’t pick that up until the last second,” the goaltender said. “I don’t know if I would have made it through the night if they scored with a second to go in overtime, as well.”