Ryan Lindgren, Jarred Tinordi propel Rangers past Ducks

ANAHEIM, Calif. — So with Artemi Panarin sidelined for the fourth straight game while on the COVID restricted list and the Rangers missing a handful of other staples up front because of ill health, who were they going to turn to for offense here on Saturday?

Why, Duck-busters Jarred Tinordi and Ryan Lindgren, who else?

For it was the stay-at-home defensemen who entered the match with a combined five career goals in an aggregate 255 NHL games, who exploded for three goals in the third period as the persistent Rangers won 4-1 behind a compromised roster that refused to yield.

“I guess it’s a little extra special when guys who don’t score often, do a good job defensively and may not get so much credit on offense, they get to score,” said Mika Zibanejad, who earlier in the match notched his seventh goal in his last eight. “That’s fun, especially when they’re important goals like these.”

Ryan Reaves joined Panarin and Julien Gauthier on the COVID list. Dryden Hunt was out with an upper body injury he suffered in Thursday’s 5-1 defeat in Vegas. Libor Hajek and Zac Jones were scratched following their misadventures in the desert. So head coach Gerard Gallant had five newcomers in the lineup including a Hartford recall fourth line with Morgan Barron skating between Tim Gettinger and Jonny Brodzinski.

The recruits did just fine, working down low, grinding, cycling, getting to the net, winning draws, and delivering in the tough areas. They proved a boon to a Blueshirts team that kind of felt its way through the first 40 minutes that included a tad too many turnovers in their own end and through the neutral zone but then took web-footed prisoners through a third period in which they built an 18-0 edge in shots through the first 16:02.

“Loved it,” Gallant said of the pack of Packers. “They kept it simple, forechecked well, they had scoring chances, Gettinger had the big screen on Lindgren’s goal. They played great.”

There wasn’t much pizazz on the Rangers’ side, not after the sloppiness and lack of discipline the club displayed over the final 35 minutes of Thursday’s defeat. But they consolidated and kept it simple.

The Blueshirts’ intact top six was unable to generate much of an attack and there were still a few too many troubling errors. But the Rangers generally kept it simple and grinded down their opponents after Alexandar Georgiev erased most of his mates’ mistakes with a handful of opportune saves.

“I think we play our best when we play simple, cycle the puck, go low to high and get pucks to the net,” said Lindgren, whose left-point drive through a Gettinger screen gave his team a 3-1 lead at 10:02 of the third period, 9:27 before his empty-netter coming out of the penalty box sealed it. “That was definitely something Coach stressed tonight.

“That’s winning hockey for us.”

Lindgren’s first goal that came on a sequence following a Barron right circle faceoff victory followed Tinordi’s tie breaking goal at 1:46 of the period that represented No. 5’s second career goal in 109 NHL contests and his first since Jan. 29, 2020 when he scored as a Predator in Washington.

“They couldn’t be happier on the bench when guys like that score a goal,” Gallant said. “That’s a huge lift for your team. I’m real happy for Tinner and Lindy.”

The Rangers’ 23-9-4 record is representative of a team that has been more than the sum of its parts. That was sure true of this one in which Gallant also switched Filip Chytil to right wing on a unit with Kevin Rooney in the middle and Greg McKegg on the left. This was a night for the foot soldiers. This was a night for the reinforcements.

“That’s something that Stromer said after the game,” Lindgren said, referring to Ryan Strome. “He pointed at Timmy and Brodzie and Morgan and they were great the entire night. They did their jobs and were huge for us. They were smart with the puck and added a little energy for us.”

They were Duck-busters, just as were Tinordi and Lindgren. In this era of uncertainty, it takes more than a 23-man roster to succeed.

It takes an organization.