The New York Rangers lost 6-5 to the Utah Hockey Club in their home opening game at Madison Square Garden.
Going into this matchup, the Rangers were coming off of a dominant 6-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Hockey Club shocked New York early with a Barrett Hayton goal as their speed had the Rangers on the ropes.
Towards the end of the first period, the Rangers found their footing and Artemi Panarin found the back of the net for the first time this season.
It was in the second period where all the chaos ensued.
Following Jack McBain’s goal, Panarin scored on the power play, continuing his dominant night. Through the first two games, Panarin has two goals, two assists and four points.
Against Utah, Panarin was flying all over the ice, and if he continues on this pace, he’ll have the opportunity to break the 120-point season he had last year.
Despite the Rangers garnering some quality offensive zone time, the Hockey Club would just not go away.
Utah capitalized on some Rangers’ turnovers while their speed was too overwhelming for the Blueshirts to handle.
The Hockey Club scored four goals in the second period and even took a 5-3 lead, which put the pressure on the home team.
The Rangers showed resilience and refused to let Utah take over the game. Goals from Braden Schneider and Will Cuylle tied the score up.
However, with the game in overtime, Clayton Keller beat Igor Shesterkin to pull off the upset for the Hockey Club.
While the Rangers displayed some positive flashes in terms of their offensive performance, New York also showed their struggles playing against quicker teams.
It was also clear that the Rangers weren’t able to establish consistent play due to Utah’s onslaught of goals.
“We were chasing the game the whole night,” Peter Laviolette said. “Could never get ahead of it. Caught it a couple times, but could never get ahead of it. That’s frustrating.”
The Rangers are now 1-1 on the season as they are set to play the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
