NEW YORK (AP) — Artemi Panarin scored the deciding goal in a shootout and the New York Rangers beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Tuesday night.
K’Andre Miller and Adam Fox each had a goal and an assist, and Filip Chytil also scored for New York. Igor Shesterkin finished with 28 saves as the Rangers moved to 4-0-2 since a 4-0 loss to Washington on Dec. 27.
Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello and Jon Merrill scored and Sam Steel had two assists for Minnesota, which is 9-3-2 in its last 14 games. Marc-Andre Fleury had a season-high 41 saves.
Kaapo Kakko scored for the Rangers and Zuccarello for the Wild in the first round of the tiebreaker. Panarin then lifted the puck over a sprawled Fleury on the Rangers’ third attempt and Shesterkin denied Frederick Gaudreau to preserve the win.
The Rangers went on a 4-on-3 power play midway through the extra period after the Wild were whistled for too many men on the ice, but couldn’t take advantage.
Zuccarello put the Wild ahead 3-2 at 4:33 of the third as he skated down the right side and fired a shot from the right circle that went off Shesterkin’s glove and in. It was his 17th.
Chytil tied it with 6:25 left after a scramble in front, swiping it in while he was down following a centering pass from Fox. It was Chytil’s 12th of the season and fourth in four games.
Trailing 2-0 after one period, Miller got the Rangers on the board on a breakaway at 2:37 of the second with his fourth.
With the teams skating 4-on-4, Fox tied it after a turnover by the Wild in the neutral zone for his eighth with 4:10 remaining in the middle period.
Merrill got the Wild on the scoreboard first, sending a shot from the right past a screened Shesterkin for his second of the season with 7:24 remaining in the opening period.
Kaprizov made it 2-0 as he beat Shesterkin with a shot from the left circle for his 24th with 2:17 left in the first.
The Rangers hit the post three times in the first 20 minutes and Fleury made a stellar glove save while sliding to his left to snare a shot by Kakko late in the period.
KREIDER LEAVES
Rangers forward Chris Kreider left the bench midway through the third period and headed to the dressing room after a collision with Minnesota’s Marcus Foligno. New York also lost forward Julien Gauthier after a couple of shifts in the first.
RYAN RETURNS
The Rangers had a video tribute for Ryan Reaves in his return to Madison Square Garden for the first time since he was traded to Minnesota on Nov. 23. The rugged forward spent a little more than a season in New York after he was acquired from Vegas in July 2021. He had five goals and eight assists in 81 games for the Rangers.
Addressing media after the morning skate, the 35-year-old disputed the notion he had asked for a trade while being a healthy scratch for eight of the Rangers’ 10 games before he was dealt. However, he pushed for it after getting clarity on his role with the team and talks with the Wild were already underway.
“If you’re trying to trade me, you don’t want me, so then I’m going to push it forward and ask for a trade,” Reaves said. “But I’m not the one who put it in motion, we’ll put it that way.”
UP NEXT
Wild: At the New York Islanders on Thursday night to finish a two-game trip.
Rangers: Host the Dallas Stars on Thursday night in the second of a three-game homestand.
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Follow Vin Cherwoo at http://www.twitter.com/VinCherwooAP
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