Barclay Goodrow comes up big in OT in Rangers’ win – ‘Awesome’

NEW YORK — In 80 regular-season video games, Rangers heart Barclay Goodrow scored 4 targets. It has taken solely 12 playoff video games for him to equal that complete, together with his clutch additional time objective to win Friday’s Recreation 2 of the Jap Convention finals because the Rangers evened the collection with the Florida Panthers 1-1.

“I do not know. I simply attempt to deliver my greatest sport, each night time,” Goodrow mentioned when requested about his postseason offensive uptick. “It feels good every time you are able to do one thing to assist the crew.”

That work ethic had Goodrow’s teammates ecstatic about one of many Rangers’ most unsung heroes getting his postseason second within the 2-1 victory.

“He is a type of guys that will get groups to win. He is a big-time participant who exhibits up in big-time video games,” captain Jacob Trouba mentioned.

“To see him rating a objective like tonight is superior, as a result of his position does not at all times include that,” coach Peter Laviolette mentioned. “While you see someone who does so many different issues that helps the crew achieve success, you are actually joyful for a man like that whenever you see him make a big impact on the sport.”

Goodrow scored at 14:01 of additional time. Trouba began the play with an outlet cross from the Rangers’ defensive zone that Goodrow knocked down together with his stick close to heart ice. He moved the puck to teammate Vincent Trocheck, who despatched an aerial cross again to Goodrow within the Panthers’ zone as linemate Will Cuylle drove to the web for a attainable rebound.

“I suppose I do not actually keep in mind precisely the way it went in, however I simply keep in mind Troch made an awesome cross to me,” Goodrow mentioned. “Cools was driving the web, opening up the lane. So it was an awesome play by these two.”

Goodrow fired a wobbly puck by means of Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (28 saves) for the winner.

“I do not like to speak concerning the targets. He simply shoot and rating,” Bobrovsky mentioned. “It’s what it’s. Two good groups enjoying hockey. It is a good win for them.”

Because the Rangers mobbed Goodrow on the ice in entrance of a delirious Madison Sq. Backyard crowd, the Panthers stood at their bench, questioning if Goodrow had touched the puck with a excessive stick to begin the sequence. However the objective stayed on the board.

Goodrow mentioned he by no means believed he struck the puck with a excessive stick. “No. Within the play, it by no means crossed my thoughts,” he mentioned.

Playoff success is nothing new for Goodrow. He was a significant depth ahead on back-to-back Stanley Cup championship groups with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021. He left the Bolts in July 2021 to signal a six-year free agent cope with the Rangers for $21.85 million.

After two seasons of double-digit targets, Goodrow’s offensive output slipped to 4 targets in 2023-24, his lowest complete in a full season since his rookie marketing campaign with the San Jose Sharks in 2014-15.

“It is humorous: When the puck’s not getting in, individuals form of really feel like they’re by no means going to attain once more,” defenseman Adam Fox mentioned. “I’ve had that feeling, been by means of chilly stretches. Everybody needs to attain, however he is nonetheless going to do the opposite issues to assist us win. Our penalty kill has been big all yr and big within the playoffs. He performs in opposition to prime strains. You by no means sense frustration when he isn’t scoring.”

Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin, who was stable in making 26 saves within the win, pushed again on the notion that Goodrow’s season was inconsistent.

“Perhaps for you he is up and down,” he mentioned. “However for me, he is at all times on the highest.”

A few of Goodrow’s targets within the 2024 postseason have been important. He tallied a short-handed objective that ended up being the winner in Recreation 3 of the Rangers’ first-round sweep of the Washington Capitals. He had the series-clinching empty-net objective in opposition to the Carolina Hurricanes in Recreation 6. Then got here Friday’s winner in opposition to the Panthers.

Goodrow was on the ice for that shift as a result of the Rangers wanted him to win a defensive zone faceoff, which he did.

“You see him take these defensive zone attracts on a regular basis,” Trouba mentioned. “It is truthfully a thankless job. He solely will get talked about if he loses them. When he wins them, which he does plenty of the time, no one ever talks about it.”

That is why Goodrow’s additional time objective meant a lot to the Rangers. He is a grunt, a participant who does no matter is critical to win however does not at all times get the headlines or the accolades.

“While you get a participant that may do the whole lot, the place a coach can depend on that particular person, that is a reasonably great tool within the toolbox,” Laviolette mentioned. “He takes faceoffs, performs all three ahead positions. You need him on the market on the finish of the sport. When you’re profitable a hockey sport, you’ll be able to match him up in opposition to prime strains. He brings physicality, brings management, brings plenty of qualities inside our room. So whenever you get a participant like that, you respect it as a coach of all of the issues that he brings to the desk.”

Matt Rempe, the Rangers rookie who energized Madison Sq. Backyard together with his return to the lineup, mentioned Goodrow was a “16-win” form of participant within the playoffs.

“Oh yeah. Goody’s that man,” Rempe mentioned. “Oh my gosh. That was unbelievable. That was an absolute snipe by him.”

Recreation 3 is Sunday afternoon in Dawn, Florida.