By the end of the first period, the Toronto Maple Leafs led the New York Rangers 3-1. And yet, this game ended with the Rangers pulling out a 3-6 win after 5 unanswered goals. Even in the regular season, Leafs gonna Leaf a 3-1 lead.
The Maple Leafs started off hot. Ilya Mikheyev and Mitch Marner both put up a goal in the first 3:30 of the game. They kept a tight hold on that lead. Ryan Reaves did get a goal of his own, his first of the season, at the 12:52 mark but nevertheless, the Leafs came back with another goal from Michael Bunting to take a 3-1 lead into the second. Here’s Marner’s snipe:
They probably thought “Great start fellas, let’s keep it going”. Little did they know, Reavo had other plans.
Ryan Reaves came back AGAIN with a second goal of the game just 2:58 into the period to shift the tides massively. The near Reaves hatty pumped up MSG and the Ranger and the Leafs just couldn’t keep up. Adam Fox came in to tie this game 3-3 in the dying minutes of the 2nd and this is a sneaky little shot you’re gonna wanna see:
The Rangers kept their streak going through the final 20 minutes. Ryan Strome finally broke the tie 10:50 into the period. Then Chris Kreider jumped on the goal train with one of his own 5 minutes later. And to complete the scoring, Adam Fox collected his second of the game on an empty net, once again in the dying seconds of the 3rd.
What a comeback for the Rangers. Started low, came back with 5 unanswered. Just a jolly good show. They’ve got 3 All-Stars, one of the best goaltenders in the league, and they got Reavo – he’s just a bonus all to himself. They’ve been playing incredibly well lately and they kept things fresh here to pull out this win.
As for the Leafs, what a tough loss again. Luke Fox tweeted out this fact and I am blown away by it:
If you play the Leafs and go down 3-1 at some point, fear not there’s a good chance you can win this one. This team, to me, eludes logic because they have incredible players but they cannot hold a lead for the life of them. As of late, they have been very finicky (win one, lose one, rinse, repeat) but in their upcoming streak of games against teams they are, on paper, better than, they’ll have to lose this wavering confidence to have hope.
Of course, Ryan Reaves got First Star, no shock after a great game like that, and it turns out tomorrow is his birthday as well. Overall, he had those 2 goals, 2 PIMS, 2 shots on net, and 5 hits all in his 12:04 on the ice.
Adam Fox was given the Second Star and Ryan Strome got Third. The Rangers move onto the very good Carolina Hurricanes while Toronto stays in NYC to play the Islanders. I’m excited to see how the Rangers fair against the Hurricanes for the first time this season. Meanwhile, the Leafs are 1-0 against the Isles this season BUT the Islanders are on a 2 game win streak so this shall be interesting to watch.
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Featured Image: New York Rangers Twitter
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