VANCOUVER, British Columbia — In a closely contested matchup on Tuesday night, the New York Rangers narrowly defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-3, propelled by strong performances from Mika Zibanejad, who scored and assisted on another goal. Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko also contributed with a goal and an assist each, while Chris Kreider netted the decisive goal midway through the third period. Defenseman Adam Fox had two assists to his credit in the game.
Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin was impressive, making 21 saves, which helped the team improve to a remarkable 7-1-0 on the road this season. On the other side, the Canucks saw goals from Quinn Hughes, Kiefer Sherwood, and Conor Garland, but their netminder Arturs Silovs was kept busy with 29 saves in the loss.
This defeat occurs in the wake of the announcement that Canucks’ star center J.T. Miller will be taking an indefinite leave for personal matters, putting pressure on the team’s depth. The Canucks are also dealing with the absence of several key players, including all-star goaltender Thatcher Demko due to a knee injury, sniper Brock Boeser who is sidelined with an upper-body injury, and defenseman Derek Forbort battling a lower-body issue. Canucks coach Rick Tocchet noted that Boeser and Forbort participated in morning skate, with Demko showing improvement in practice, although no timelines for their returns were provided.
A pivotal moment in the game came when Kreider found the back of the net 10:43 into the third period, completing a play set up by Zibanejad from the faceoff circle, earning him his ninth goal of the season.
A noteworthy statistic from the game is that the Rangers successfully killed all three of the Canucks’ power-play opportunities, showcasing their effectiveness on the penalty kill, which ranks second in the league at an impressive 88.2%.
Looking ahead, the Rangers will be traveling to face the Calgary Flames on Thursday, while the Canucks are gearing up to embark on a six-game road trip beginning with a matchup against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.