NEW YORK — The Ducks had miles to skate before they could rest, making a stop at Madison Square Garden for the fifth and final game of their trip. If they were beaten down by injuries, by the news of the trade of one of their longtime core players and by the grind of travel, it didn’t show Tuesday night.
Well, not until the end of 60 grueling minutes, when the New York Rangers pressed for the tie-breaking goal and the Ducks were on their heels, summoning all their reserve energy to push the game into overtime. They got one point, but not two as New York’s Adam Fox won it in OT, 4-3.
Derek Grant scored on a breakaway to break a 2-2 tie at 10:35 of the third period, freed by an alert breakout pass from Danny O’Regan. It was O’Regan’s first point in his fourth game with the Ducks and the sixth of his NHL career with the Ducks, Buffalo Sabres and San Jose Sharks.
The Ducks’ lead wouldn’t last, however.
Chris Kreider’s power-play goal at 13:40 tied it at 3-3 for New York.
Jonny Brodzinski, a former Kings prospect, gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead only 4:29 into the game with his first goal of the season. The Ducks countered with Max Comtois’ first goal since Jan. 14 against the Minnesota Wild, breaking a 16-game drought, which tied it at 14:05.
In the second, Mika Zibanejad slammed a one-timed shot past Ducks goalie John Gibson on a delayed penalty to give New York an all-too-brief 2-1 lead at 3:06. Cam Fowler countered with a power-play goal at 4:53, ending a three-game skid without a man-advantage goal.
Gibson and New York counterpart Alexandar Georgiev were each excellent, making remarkable saves. There wasn’t much Gibson could do about Zibanejad’s goal while the Rangers were skating six-on-five and the same could be said for Georgiev on Fowler’s strike from the perimeter.
The Ducks were without injured forwards Ryan Getzlaf, Jakob Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell and defenseman Josh Manson, who was traded 24 hours earlier to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for 20-year-old prospect Drew Helleson and a second-round draft pick in 2023.
More to come on this story.