Recap: Rangers Pick Up a Point in Overtime Loss to Kings

The Rangers took one on the chin Monday night, which in this case is not just a figure of speech.
In a span of just 1:25 of game time, the Rangers went from appearing on their way to a home-ice victory, to trudging off with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Monday night at Madison Square Garden. Tyler Toffoli set up the game-tying goal with six Kings attackers on the ice, then scored the winner just 25 seconds into overtime to steal the second point for L.A.
But what truly had the Rangers shaking their heads afterward was not just a missed penalty on the game-tying goal, but moreover watching Toffoli score the winner while the echo of Mika Zibanejad's scorcher off the goalpost was still ringing through the Garden.
"I mean, that last goal kind of sums it up, doesn't it?" said Henrik Lundqvist. "Hit the crossbar, then they go down and he totally misses his shot, fools me, goes five-hole, and game over."

Adam McQuaid was front-and-center on the final two goals of regulation time. He scored one of them, his first goal as a Ranger, to put the Blueshirts into the lead with 10:45 to play. That lead held up until Adrian Kempe scored his second of the night, with 59.6 seconds to go and Jonathan Quick (24 saves) on the bench for an extra skater. Kempe was open on the play in large part because he planted his stick into McQuaid's chin, which allowed him to gain a step on the Ranger blueliner getting to the front of the net. He scored when Toffoli chased down a chip-in behind the goal line and flicked it out front.
"Obviously he got the stick up and Quaider kind of was stung by it. Allowed him to get to the puck," David Quinn said, adding: "But we've got to do a better job at the net front on that. That shouldn't be the reason that they got that tying goal."
Once the Kings tied it, Zibanejad took the opening faceoff of overtime and blew a shot past Quick, coming a sliver away from his fourth multigoal game in the last seven matches. Instead, he finished with his third straight multipoint game and fifth in the last seven games, with a goal and an assist on the night - leaving him with 31 assists and 52 points, both new career highs in just 52 games.

Zibanejad has points in nine of the last 11 games, with 10 goals and eight assists in that stretch. In the process, he set a new Rangers record on Monday night: Dating to the Rangers' victory in Boston on Jan. 19, Zibanejad had factored in the scoring on 10 consecutive Ranger goals, breaking the old mark held by Rod Gilbert. Zibanejad's streak lasted until McQuaid scored unassisted in the third.
Of course, it was the one off iron Zibanejad was remembering immediately afterward. "Post, out, they turn around and go down and score," he said. "We put ourselves in a good spot to win, Hankie was great, and we couldn't close it. Just disappointing."
Chris Kreider scored the game's first goal, and Mats Zuccarello assisted on Zibanejad's marker - making it 33 points in that trio's last six games together. And Tony DeAngelo made an immediate impact in his return to the lineup - a lineup that for the fourth time this season included seven defensemen and 11 forwards - setting up Kreider's tally in the first.

Lundqvist made 26 stops in the game, but was left stewing over "the last two, to be honest." He said it surprised him that Kempe was right on top of him on the late equalizer, then that Toffoli, pulling up to wait for Kempe on a 2-on-1 in overtime, shanked his shot and snuck it through.
It was the second time in the teams' two meetings this season that the Kings have left the Rangers reeling with a goal in the final minute, after Alec Martinez's late goal won their Oct. 28 matchup.
"Listen, you've got to play 60 minutes, you can't give an opportunity to a team like that that's got some high-end guys and can take advantage of some opportunities," Quinn said, adding that his team "got away from some of the things we were doing that I thought allowed us to have a really good first period.
"We've had a tendency at times when we're winning 2-1 to at times act like it's 5-1. Such a fine line between winning and losing at this level, you've got to finish the job."
The Rangers never trailed in the game until Toffoli won it - but each time the Rangers edged ahead, the Kings managed to tie. Kreider grabbed the first lead 8:32 into the game when DeAngelo skated a puck down to the right corner and fired one off the winger's stickblade and in. It was DeAngelo's third point in the two games against L.A. this year (1-2-3).
L.A. evened it up on a quick 200-foot play, started by Drew Doughty's stretch pass and finished with Ilya Kovalchuk setting up Kempe's first of the night.
Zibanejad's pool-cue finish of a rebound of Zuccarello's shot restored the lead just 32 seconds into the middle period - coming just moments after Lundqvist had started the frame by robbing Alex Iafallo. After Anze Kopitar roofed a backhander at 5:04, McQuaid gave the Rangers their third lead by cutting off Carl Hagelin's clearing attempt and sending a high wrister through traffic.
But less than a minute before the end, McQuaid was left appealing for a call as the Kings celebrated Kempe's goal to tie it.
"Overall I thought we played pretty well. A lot of these games, it comes down to one, two plays, and we'd have a much better feel than what we got here," said Lundqvist, whose Rangers continue their season-long five-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Boston Bruins. "Back to practice tomorrow and prepare for the next one. We've got a couple more home games coming up. But not getting rewarded with two points for this effort, that hurts."