EDMONTON, Alberta _ Michael Grabner wasn't supposed to be on the top line. But Sunday night, with Chris Kreider unable to play because of an upper-body injury that cropped up earlier in the day, Grabner was tabbed to join Derek Stepan and Rick Nash against the Oilers and the former Islander responded in a big way.
Signed as a free-agent, Grabner scored his ninth and 10th goals of the season, and Antti Raanta made 38 saves as the short-handed Rangers beat the Oilers, 3-1.
The Rangers also played without another top forward, Pavel Buchnevich, who had a recurrence of back spasms during warmups.
Already weary from playing the night before in a 4-1 victory over the Flames in Calgary, the Rangers celebrated their second straight win on this four-game trip, one that certainly wasn't easy, with the Blueshirts allowing the most shots on goal this season. They were outshot 39-27, including 26-15 in the final two periods.
On a strange day with twists and turns, the Rangers, via Raanta's strong performance, lifted their record to 12-4. They have won 10 of 12.
Grabner took advantage of the Oilers early, as several teams have done, scoring within the first two minutes for the fifth time in the last seven games. And his unassisted goal in the second provided a two-goal margin that the Blueshirts had to protect in the third, which they did for the second straight night.
The lineup for the rest of the trip is uncertain. It was unclear exactly whether Kreider or Buchnevich will be able to play in Vancouver on Tuesday.
In the second period, the Rangers essentially played three lines, with Brandon Pirri and Oscar Lindberg getting very few minutes. Adam Clendening, who dressed at the last minute as a seventh defenseman, did not play at all.
So the Oilers attacked and Raanta made some terrific saves.
Stepan took a hooking penalty in front at the 21-second mark, but the Rangers turned that man-advantage away. The Oilers then had numerous good chances as Raanta made two saves before a shot hit the side of the net with 6:15 left. Raanta made two more point-blank saves, the second on Zack Kassian's backhander.
Then Grabner struck for his second goal, intercepting a pass from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at mid-ice, deking Talbot and reaching around him to slide the puck across the line for his 10th of the season at 14:35. A video review upheld the unassisted goal.
The first period began as strangely as it ended. No Oilers skater picked up Grabner, who was trailing on a rush and potted a rebound of Rick Nash's shot at 1:20. Moments later, Raanta stopped Kassian on a breakaway. The Oilers have allowed numerous early goals this season.
When Kevin Hayes went off for slashing at 2:26, Talbot denied a two-on-one shorthanded bid and Raanta stopped a long, low shot through traffic. J.T. Miller drilled Patrick Maroon in front, who fell on Raanta, who was ordered off the ice in his previous start to be tested for a concussion after the back of his head struck the ice. There was no issue this time.
With the penalty over, Talbot stopped Grabner with a blocker save, but the Blueshirts extended the lead to 2-0 when Hayes threw a pass toward the crease that hit Dan Girardi's skate and went past Talbot at 13:18. It was Girardi's third goal of the season.
The scoring chances kept coming. Raanta made a huge save on Michael Frolik at the doorstep with 2:25 left, but Connor McDavid's angle pass in front was redirected by a driving Andrej Sekera to cut the lead in half at 18:45.
