If the Rangers could put their last loss on Dylan Garand, as the rookie goaltender declared in the aftermath of Sunday’s defeat, then they can put this win on him, too.
Garand, playing in his 11th consecutive game since Igor Shesterkin’s season-ending injury and recently struggling in his audition to be the Blueshirts starter, delivered the performance the Rangers needed to snap their four-game skid in a 3-1 victory over the Blues at the Garden on Tuesday. He made 32 saves and nearly posted his second shutout of the season, allowing only a goal in the final minute of the game. And when paired with Adam Fox’s second-period goal, Oliver Bjorkstrand’s third-period tally and Eeli Tolvanen’s empty-net goal, it made the difference as the Rangers (8-7-1) took a needed step toward proving their early-season tear wasn’t a fluke.
“Felt like a long time in between wins there for our group,” Garand said. “Just really wanted to dig in and pay the price to get us a win tonight.”
At the center of that was Garand — because until Joonas Korpisalo returns and the goaltending outlook comes into focus, he remains at the center of everything for the Blueshirts. After recording a .951 save percentage over his first four appearances, Garand stumbled to an .871 mark over his next seven outings. Sunday, against the Oilers and Connor McDavid, marked another growing pain, especially in the first period.
But two nights later, Garand reminded the Rangers of his potential until the late rebound and subsequent goal from Pius Suter ruined his shutout bid. The Blueshirts took six penalties and had some other defensive lapses, but Garand flashed his glove on multiple occasions and avoided allowing rebounds to sit in high-danger areas. On one sequence in the first, Blues forward Mason McTavish got around Alberts Smits and cut toward the net — similar to McDavid for his goal Sunday, albeit at a reduced speed — before Garand stopped him.
He turned aside Jake Neighbours after the Blues forward curled in front of the net from the post in the second period. He stuffed Philip Broberg on a 2-on-1 after the defenseman snuck behind J.T. Miller. And in perhaps his signature save of the game, he denied Pavel Buchnevich in the slot while St. Louis was on the power play for the fifth time, too.
“I think this game was an important one for him,” head coach Mike Sullivan said of Garand. “He wanted to bounce back and have a solid night for the group, and he did. … He’s a competitive guy, and I think he’s proven what he’s capable of.”
Fox gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead just 1:49 into the second period with his second goal of the season, capitalizing off a smart sequence from Tye Kartye. Miller had snapped a pass to Kartye in the neutral zone, but when Kartye started to lose control when crossing the blue line, he spun around and dropped the puck for Fox to send into the net. The Blueshirts had plenty of chances — including two chaotic sequences in front of the net when Blues goaltender Joel Hofer was out of position — to extend their lead, but they couldn’t land an insurance tally until their new-look third line produced it.
Will Cuylle, playing his first-ever game at center, capitalized on an offensive-zone draw, fed the puck across to Tolvanen and then watched as Tolvanen made the extra pass to Bjorkstrand, who deposited his sixth goal of the season into an open net.
Gabe Perreault had a goal waved off with 6:50 remaining in the third after it was determined he kicked the puck, but Garand ensured the Rangers’ pair of goals, and then Tolvanen’s latest empty-net tally, were enough. It’ll take more than one game — against a Blues team the Rangers needed to earn two points against — for the Rangers to reverse their struggles of the last two weeks. It’ll take more than one outing like this from Garand to secure his place as their primary goaltender for the rest of the season.
“It’s a lot,” Garand said of his whirlwind. “Obviously, it’s my first experience going through this in the NHL, and there’s lots of things you can learn. Obviously, we play a lot of games, you know — how to manage that physically and mentally, all the noise kind of around the NHL. It’s new.”
But by the final minutes of the third period, the “Dy-lan” chants had returned from fans. This, more than anything from the last two weeks, was closer to the version the Blueshirts needed.
“That was obviously a big win for us,” Cuylle said. “We had to stop the bleeding.”
