Newcomer Dylan McIlrath only had 5:08 of ice time, but the hard-nosed rookie defenseman’s effort was appreciated by his teammates in their 4-3 shootout victory over the Flames.
Called up from Hartford of the AHL on Wednesday to add toughness, McIlrath was awarded the Broadway Hat — given to the Ranger who his teammates feel made the biggest impact on the game — after taking on Flames tough guy Brian McGrattan, a 6-foot-4, 235-pound bruiser.
“I thought that was a very courageous thing to do,” said Rangers coach Alain Vigneault, who had recently expressed how he wanted to see more fight — though not necessarily literally — out of his team. “That’s a very big opponent there and a young man that was testing that opponent. … I’m not really sure a fight one way or the other has that [much] impact, but I do think it brings a little emotion to the game and it certainly didn’t hurt.”
The Rangers five-game home losing skid wasn’t the only ominous streak that was snapped Sunday night at the Garden.
Center Derek Stepan got his first goal in 11 games, beating Karri Ramo 15:25 into the first period from the right circle, and added an assist, on Chris Kreider’s equalizer in the third period, his 100th career helper. The two-point effort was just his second such performance since notching a hat trick against the Hurricanes Nov. 2.
“Anytime you’re struggling to find the back of the net it’s not very fun,” Stepan said. “Just continue to find ways to get pucks to the net and who knows, you might get a lucky one.”
Henrik Lundqvist improved to 45-30 in shootouts all-time, and his 45 wins are second most in the NHL to Ryan Miller’s 47. … The Rangers went with seven defensemen and 11 forwards. … Kreider has scored five goals in his last eight games.