The Rangers wasted no time ending their lengthy scoring drought at Madison Square Garden.
Artemi Panarin scored the Rangers’ first goal of the season at the World’s Most Famous Arena, after the Blueshirts went a concerning three games and an NHL record 180:57 of ice time without one.
Set up by Mika Zibanejad from behind the goal line, Panarin netted his second goal of the season on Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson to give his team the early 1-0 lead.
The goal came just 57 seconds into the first period.
The Rangers were shut out at the Garden by the Penguins, Capitals and Oilers to start the season, becoming the first team in NHL history the be blanked in three straight games to open a season on home ice.
“These guys care an awful lot,” coach Sullivan said last week. “They’re invested. They want to win and they want to score. Our offensive people want to score goals. They know the team relies on them to score goals, so when the puck doesn’t go in the net, it’s easy for things like doubt to creep in and that’s where we have to be vigilant.’’
Jonas Brodin of the Wild scored with 14:50 to go in the first period to quickly tie the score.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
