It has been a long time coming for Taylor Pyatt, but yesterday at the Garden, all of his hard work finally seemed to materialize into results.
Midway through the second period, Pyatt scored his first goal since Feb. 26, and it was a big one in giving the Rangers a three-goal lead en route to a 4-1 victory over the Devils.
“It’s been a while,” said Pyatt, who now has five goals on the season, the first three coming consecutively in games two, three and four of the season. “It’s a big goal in a big game, so it feels good to get this one.”
Starting the second period with a 2-0 lead, Rangers coach John Tortorella knew that with the playoffs hanging in the balance, no lead was going to feel comfortable.
“If they score the next one, I think it changes the complexion, it changes their energy,” Tortorella said. “Good for Pysie.”
Pyatt stayed on a line with Brad Richards and Mats Zuccarello for the third straight game, getting 12:01 of ice time, just the fourth game in the past 13 he has played more than 10 minutes.
“He has done a lot of work along the boards, [and] he hasn’t been playing much,” Tortorella said. “That line has played well. Has added some offense to us.”
It was also a milestone day for Pyatt, who was playing in his 800th career NHL game. With his team now tied in points with the Senators for seventh in the conference (yet in eighth place due to Ottawa’s game in hand), things are starting to look up.
“It’s definitely a nice way to celebrate,” Pyatt said. “To get on a big line and score, it feels great.”
* Other than the aberration of Friday’s 8-4 thumping of the Sabres in Buffalo, the Rangers’ power play continues to struggle. They went 1-for-6 yesterday in 9:15 of man-advantage time, the lone goal coming from Ryan Callahan early in the third period.
“You don’t have to look at all the negatives,” said Callahan, whose team is 1-for-21 in the past six games, omitting the Sabres game when they went 2-for-4. “We got a goal on the power play, and that’s key for us.”
Defenseman Steve Eminger got just three shifts in the third period, finishing with 9:30 of ice time. Rookie forward Chris Kreider didn’t play much, either, getting three shifts of his own in the final frame, finishing with 9:05. Of Kreider’s 11 total shifts, three ended in penalties and one ended in the Devils’ lone goal.