After a back-and-forth game, the New York Rangers handed the San Jose Sharks their first loss of the regular season, 7-4.
Brent Burns played in his 800th career game Monday when the Sharks continued their five-game road trip against the Rangers. Burns’ first career point came against the Rangers on Oct. 10, 2003 in his rookie season with the Minnesota Wild.
Marc Staal made a great one-timer to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead at 12:06 of the first. The Sharks converted on the two-man advantage, tying the game 1-1 with 58 seconds remaining in the opening period. Logan Couture finished Joe Pavelski’s pass and went in front of the net for a power-play goal.
San Jose outshot New York, 10-8, but the score was tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.
Rick Nash created a rebound from Ryan McDonagh’s wrist shot off the boards and shot the puck past Sharks goalie Martin Jones for his first goal of the season. Chris Kreider took a pass from the blue line and fired an impressive wrist shot off of Jones’ shoulder from a rugged angle for a power-play goal.
The Rangers outshot the Sharks, 20-18, taking a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Brent Burns used a wrist shot to beat the glove side of Rangers goalie Antti Raanta to pull the Sharks within one. However, the Rangers went ahead 4-2 on Kevin Hayes’ tap-in goal at 12:16 of the third.
After a San Jose turnover, Derek Stepan found Jimmy Vesey in front of the net, who tapped in the puck for his first career goal for a 5-2 lead just 21 seconds later.
Burns cut the Sharks’ deficit to two with a fierce wrist shot, earning his second goal of the game at 13:57. Once again, San Jose made it a one-goal game, as Joe Pavelski redirected Burns’ wrist shot past Raanta.
Mats Zuccarello allowed a wrister to fly from center ice to put the Rangers ahead 6-4 with 1:36 left in regulation. Michael Grabner intercepted a pass and finished the play to seal a 7-4 victory for the Rangers.
Antti Raanta made 27 saves for the Rangers. Martin Jones made 22 saves for the Sharks.
Both teams are now 2-1.
Up Next
The Sharks head to Brooklyn to face the New York Islanders Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. EST on CSCA, MSG+.
