Barclay Goodrow turned the Garden into Barclay’s Center with his overtime winner Friday night in Game 2, and with the goal, he joined an exclusive list of Rangers with overtime tallies in the conference final or Stanley Cup Final.
Goodrow’s was the first since Martin St. Louis in 2014, and just the fifth in franchise history alongside Stephane Matteau in 1994, Rod Gilbert in 1974 and Pete Stemkowski in 1971.
With just over six minutes remaining in overtime, Goodrow collected a pass from Vincent Trocheck in the Panthers’ zone and ripped a shot past goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to give the Rangers a 2-1 win and even the series at one game apiece as the Eastern Conference Final shifts back to Florida.
Goodrow, who scored four goals during the regular season, has already matched that total in 12 postseason games — adding goals in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Capitals, Game 4 against the Hurricanes and the Game 6, second-round clincher in Carolina.
“To see him score a goal like tonight is awesome because his role doesn’t always consist of that, it’s not always in the offensive zone and it’s not on the power play,” head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters postgame. “But when you see somebody that does so many other things that helps a team be successful, you’re really happy for a guy like that when he can make a huge impact in the game tonight offensively.”
St. Louis’ overtime winner occurred in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Final against the Canadiens, giving the Blueshirts a 3-1 series lead — they eventually won in six games — during a postseason run that ended with a loss to Jonathan Quick and the Kings in the Stanley Cup Final.
And before that, Matteau netted overtime winners twice, in Games 3 and 7, against the Devils in 1994, including the famous “Matteau, Matteau, Matteau” call from radio broadcaster Howie Rose for a double-overtime goal.
Gilbert lifted the Rangers to an overtime win in Game 6 of the 1974 playoffs against the Flyers, while Stemkowski’s goals occurred in Games 1 and 6 of the 1971 postseason against the Blackhawks.
This time, and in these playoffs, the Rangers needed Goodrow’s goal to avoid trailing 2-0 ahead of their first road games of the series.
Laviolette shifted some lines around pregame, but Goodrow, who won two Stanley Cups with the Lightning, has remained a constant on the fourth line — and he delivered in a critical juncture of the Blueshirts’ postseason.
“When you get a player that can do everything where a coach can rely on that person, that’s a pretty useful tool in the toolbox,” Laviolette told reporters postgame. “He takes faceoffs, he plays all three forward positions. You want him out there at the end of the game if you’re winning a hockey game. You can match him up against top lines. Brings physicality, brings leadership, brings a lot of qualities inside of our room, great teammate.
“And so when you get a player like that, you appreciate it as a coach, of all the things that he brings to the table.”