In a season filled with disappointments, this was positioned as the most recent.
The Rangers exploded for 3 objectives within the opening 11:24.
They then watched the lead evaporate because the Stars managed possession, continued to generate probabilities and finally pulled even earlier than the top of the second interval.
Additionally they could not maintain on to a late lead within the remaining minutes.
They usually have been unable to drag away in extra-time when Jamie Benn scored to salvage a 5-4 loss for the Blue Shirts and mark their newest failed bid to safe back-to-back wins for the primary time since November.
That loss might come at a price to an already fractured Rangers group.
Striker Filip Chytil, who has an harm historical past, left with an higher physique harm and didn’t return.
His remaining shift ended with about 4 minutes left within the second body. He wasn’t on the Blueshirts bench to start out the third.
Trocheck gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead with simply over seven minutes remaining when he turned in Mika Zibanejad’s shot from in entrance of the objective — filling the power-play spot that usually belongs to the injured Chris Kreider — for his second objective of the sport on the snap a brutal 1-for-31 stretch from the unit.
However Ok’Andre Miller made a turnover hidden within the nook of his personal finish, and after some biking, Thomas Harley took benefit of his capturing lane and scored with 2:39 left to power extra time.
Earlier than Rangers blew their pair of leads, there have been loads of promising indicators to recommend the strides in current video games have been no fluke.
When the Rangers made their playoff run final yr, it was Lafreniere’s model that carried them.
And as they picked up factors in six of their opening seven video games to start out the 2024-25 marketing campaign, that efficiency from Lafreniere ignited their four-goal, seven-point offense.
For a lot of the ensuing 32 video games that coincided with the stretch following his huge seven-year extension, Lafreniere’s numbers fell.
He snapped a 13-goal drought and has collected simply two since November 21.
However that modified simply seven minutes into the primary body when Artemi Panarin returned a go to Lafreniere on a shot and the winger fired previous Jake Oettinger.
Lower than 5 minutes later, Panarin put in one other puck from the Rangers zone to arrange a Lafreniere breakaway that secured his first multi-goal sport since Could 26.
In the meantime, Vincent Trochek scored on a Will Borgen shot – and the Rangers, regardless of some early probabilities for the Stars, had a commanding lead.
Nonetheless, that is Rangers 2024-25. Zibanejad made one other brutal flip that may have resulted in a objective had he not recovered and knocked the puck out of the crease.
Urho Vaakanainen deflected a puck into the Rangers web, Yevgeny Dadonov scored on a rebound after which Jason Robertson curled across the web, managed the ball and slotted the equalizer previous Fast. Dallas hit the put up twice within the second as nicely.
Then they took their solely lead of the night time when it mattered.
The Rangers’ bid to get again into the wild card hunt is not going to get any simpler both.
Kreider hit injured reserve Monday with an upper-body harm. Star goaltender Igor Shesterkin stays on IR with the identical tag, although he might return as quickly as Thursday.
There’s additionally the variable Chytil. Extra roster shuffling — after bringing Artur Kaliev off waivers and bringing again Matt Rempe from his suspension — might observe from head coach Peter Laviolette.
The Blueshirts’ subsequent three video games in opposition to the Devils, Golden Knights and Avalanche characteristic opponents close to the highest of the standings.
Sooner or later, in the event that they wish to save their season, the Rangers should go on, win a number of video games to ensure the three-goal lead they’d in opposition to the Stars does not blow away and result in losses. Tuesday was one other missed alternative.
