NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Rangers’ first meeting with the Predators, a brutal 4-1 loss on Oct. 19 at the Garden, ultimately became a turning point in the season.
And Saturday’s 4-3 win in the matinee rematch on the Predators’ turf proved just how far they’ve come.
Charging back from the same two-goal deficit they faced in the first game against Nashville, the Blueshirts bent but didn’t break this time around as they pieced together strong second and third periods to complete the comeback.
A big-time play from Vincent Trocheck, who led the Rangers with three points along with Adam Fox, broke a 3-3 tie just over five minutes into the third period.
Trocheck’s battle for position in front with Jeremy Lauzon allowed for Ryan Lindgren’s shot to go off the Nashville defenseman’s skate and in.
The Rangers responded emphatically in the aftermath of their lackluster effort against the Predators earlier this season.
In addition to generating an 11-game point streak, they tightened their overall game and haven’t put forth such a poor performance since.
On Saturday, the Rangers didn’t wait until the next game to respond. They did so in the moment.
The second period saw the Rangers play more to the game they’ve put forth the past few weeks, after a flat-footed opening 20 minutes resulted in a 2-0 deficit.
It started with some significant mid-game line changes, which is something head coach Peter Laviolette hasn’t had to do much this season.
Putting Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere on the top line with Mika Zibanejad, Laviolette dropped Chris Kreider down to the second unit with Trocheck and Jonny Brodzinski.
Will Cuylle and Tyler Pitlick flanked Nick Bonino, while Blake Wheeler was bumped to the fourth unit with Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey.
The desired spark was produced when Jacob Trouba scored 31 seconds into the middle frame off a feed from behind the Predators net from Trocheck.
Nashville countered, however, with a shorthanded goal from Colton Sissons for the 3-1 lead at the 7:28 mark.
The Rangers kept their heads and a couple seconds after the power play expired, Kreider batted a rebound out of the air to make it a one-goal game once again.
Juuso Parssinen then gifted the Rangers another power play 11 seconds later, when he got called for boarding against Bonino.
The top power-play unit struck quickly as Trocheck notched his third point of the game with a deflection goal, which evened the score at three-all.
Trocheck, who has been one of the Rangers’ most consistent forwards this season, has now had a trio of three-point games this season.
The last time the Rangers trailed 2-0 heading into the first intermission happened to be the last time they played the Predators on Oct. 19.
Nashville managed to hang two on Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin in the opening 20 minutes once again, when Ryan O’Reilly scored from the left faceoff circle at the 6:19 mark and Roman Josi capitalized on the power play at the 15:51 mark.
The Rangers, who were outshot 17-8 in the first period, caught a bad break on the first goal after their clearing attempt bounced off the ref and allowed the Predators to cleanly re-enter the zone for O’Reilly’s snipe.
On Josi’s goal, however, the penalty kill left a clear lane open in the middle of the ice and Shesterkin couldn’t get in front of it in time.