EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Artemi Panarin was so moved by the spectacle at MetLife Stadium before his Rangers took on the Islanders at the 2024 Stadium Series that he was on the verge of tears.
Three hours later, he nearly blacked out from excitement after scoring the game-winning, overtime goal to cap off a furious late comeback and lift the Blueshirts to a 6-5 victory over the rival Islanders.
“I couldn’t compare anything else to it,” Panarin said through a translator. “I had to hold back tears.”
Panarin’s overtime winner came just 10 seconds into the extra period to put an exclamation point on the Rangers’ 18th comeback win of the season ― though this one was by far the most dramatic yet.
After scoring the opening goal of the game, the Rangers conceded four unanswered goals to the Islanders. Chipping back with two straight through Vincent Trocheck to make it a 4-3 game going into the third period, the Islanders regained a two-goal lead early in the final stanza.
They left it late, but Islanders penalties allowed the Rangers’ biggest players to shine on their biggest stage of the regular season. Chris Kreider tipped in a point shot on a 6-on-4 advantage (goalie Igor Shesterkin was pulled) with 4:08 to go in regulation.
Mika Zibanejad tied the game with 1:29 left when a blistering one-timer beat star goalie Ilya Sorokin to force overtime.
“It was crazy. It was awesome. I have so much props for our guys for hanging in there,” Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said. “The first period didn’t go the way we wanted at all. But we continued to fight.”
Almost immediately off the overtime face-off, Panarin picked off a Noah Dobson pass in the Islanders’ zone, outwaited the scrambling defense, and slid the game-winner into the dislodged goal.
It tied the Rangers for the NHL lead with those 18 comeback victories while extending their season-high winning streak to seven games — business as usual for the Blueshirts, at this point.
“There’s different ways of being down in a game,” Zibanejad said when trying to describe the Rangers’ come-from-behind abilities. “I think everyone together has done a good job of getting us to realize and getting us to understand what we need to do and what has made us successful… We try to take a look at ourselves and see what we have to do.
“The situations where we’re down, we know what we have to do and I think we’ve been pretty good at getting back on track and getting big goals and creating some sort of momentum to try and swing the game back our way.”
The first 17 comebacks this season, though, pale in comparison to what they were able to pull off on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
“These [outdoor] games that take place are special. We’re fortunate to be a part of them and there’s been some good ones,” Laviolette said. “This one has to be up there. It has to be near the top of the list.”
