NEW YORK _ With all the excitement for the Rangers' season opener, and all the hype surrounding all the big-name additions to their roster over the summer, it ended up being a third-line grinder who got the biggest goal of the game for the Blueshirts, and a spirited penalty kill that preserved the victory.
Brett Howden popped in the rebound of a Jesper Fast shot to break a tie with 4:09 remaining in regulation and Brendan Smith, who played as a forward on the fourth line and as a defenseman on the penalty kill, iced the game with an empty-net goal with 16.1 seconds as the Rangers started off the 2019-20 season with a 6-4, come from behind victory over the visiting Winnipeg Jets Thursday night at the Garden.
The Rangers, who led three times in the game, fell behind early in the third period, 4-3, before Mika Zibanejad tied the game, 4-4 on a backhander off a breakaway at 5:04 of the third period, from an assist by ex-Jet Jacob Trouba. Kyle Connor had given the Jets their first lead with a power play goal at 2:41 of the third, when he tipped in a shot by Josh Morrissey. Brady Skjei was in the box for delay of game, after shooting the puck over the glass.
Throughout most of training camp, there were many happy Rangers, but none seemed as happy as Panarin, who left the Columbus Blue Jackets to sign a seven-year, $81.5 million free agent contract with the Rangers over the summer.
"Wouldn't you be happy, if you had a contract like that?" coach David Quinn joked, before the game, when asked about Panarin's perpetual smile.
Seriously, though, Quinn has quickly been impressed with what he's seen from the 27-year-old Panarin, nicknamed "The Breadman."
"It's so important for your superstars to be great people," Quinn said. "And, you know, if people love him now, they're going to love him a lot more, the more they get to know him. This isn't a guy with just elite talent, this guy cares about winning; he cares about his teammates; he's a great teammate, he's got great work ethic, he wants to be coached. And when we add all that up. He's a joy to be around, I'll tell you that. He's a lot of fun to watch."
Panarin, who drew some of the loudest cheers during the pregame introductions, scored his first goal as a Ranger on a power play, 27 seconds into the second period to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead. But before the Garden crowd had stopped cheering, Winnipeg tied the game, 2-2, on the first of two goals by Blake Wheeler, who finished a two-on-one pass from Nikolaj Ehlers just 30 seconds after Panarin's goal.
Jacob Trouba, playing his first game as a Ranger and also playing his first game against his old team � the Jets had traded him to the Rangers in June for Neal Pionk and a return of their own first round pick, dealt to the Rangers in the Kevin Hayes trade in February � bombed a shot from the point past Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead at 6:03, five seconds after a Rangers power play had expired. But Wheeler dumped water all over the Rangers' celebration again, once again scoring on the next shift to tie the game at 3-3, beating Henrik Lundqvist with a wrist shot at 6:12.
The second Wheeler goal was probably one Lundqvist, making his 14th consecutive opening night start, probably would wish to have back, but the 37-year-old was otherwise very good, having made 30 saves in the first two periods alone.
Marc Staal was the unlikely scorer of the first Rangers goal of the season, getting in deep on the left wing and taking a return pass from Mika Zibanejad and going behind the net before scoring on a wraparound at 11:35 of the first period. Mark Scheifele, though, tied the score at 1-1 at 17:23 of the period.
