COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Rangers’ power play had already evened the score once Thursday night in St. Louis, but another man-advantage opportunity presented itself later, when the Blueshirts were trailing by a goal with just under three minutes remaining in regulation.
Head coach Gerard Gallant called a timeout.
Goalie Igor Shesterkin was pulled for a six-on-four advantage.
Adam Fox, Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Vladimir Tarasenko and Vincent Trocheck took the ice.
Trocheck, who went 15-for-17 on faceoffs in the Rangers’ 3-2 overtime loss Thursday, won the draw.
The Rangers worked the puck around the zone before Panarin fed Tarasenko at the left side of the Blues’ net.
In a swift automatic motion, Tarasenko sent the puck to Trocheck in a tight space in the middle of the zone.
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The second-line center stopped it with his skate and swept it into the back of the net to knot the score at two-all.
“We kind of drew up a play before the shift in the timeout,” Trocheck told The Post after the game. “Off the draw, Vladi on the goal line, and we thought there might be an open area six-on-four in the middle of the ice. Got it down to Vladi, and then he was just going to make a read, whether he saw me in the middle or not.
“If he didn’t, we were just going to reset it back to the top. Luckily, I was open.”
The Rangers left St. Louis with at least a point thanks to their power play, which went 2-for-2 and has now scored in each of the last three games.
Considering just how spotty their five-on-five scoring can be, the Rangers are going to need their man-advantage units to make up for that in the playoffs.
They not only will have to capitalize on their opportunities but also to generate momentum that can be carried over into even-strength play.
Amid Patrick Kane’s lower-body injury, which has sidelined him the last two games, Tarasenko has stepped up to the Rangers’ top power-play unit.
He has a goal and four assists on the power play since he was acquired from the Blue on Feb. 9. That production has come in less man-advantage time than the Russian wing received with St. Louis.
It’s possible that Tarasenko could remain on the first unit even when Kane returns.
The Rangers’ power play, which is tied with the Senators’ for the seventh-highest percentage in the NHL at 23.9, has had its fair share of scoring streaks and droughts. Implementing new faces this late in the year onto two units that hadn’t seen much personnel movement throughout the season was a bit of an obstacle.
The players in both groups are still developing chemistry and learning each other’s tendencies. It was never going to be an overnight thing.
The Rangers could benefit from some continuity with the personnel on each unit. That should be a goal for the remaining three games of the regular season, beginning against the Blue Jackets on Saturday.
“We need the power play in the playoffs,” Trocheck said. “Special teams are enormous.”