TORONTO _ After an incredible goaltenders duel, Mika Zibanejad and Mats Zuccarello scored in the shootout against Frederik Andersen as the Rangers squeaked by the Maple Leafs, 2-1, at Air Canada Centre on Thursday.
Henrik Lundqvist stopped Nazem Kadri in the third round to seal the victory for the Blueshirts. Lundqvist also denied William Nylander before Auston Matthews wired a shot past Lundqvist.
J.T. Miller had tied the score on a power play.
For the Rangers, it was the second consecutive game that had gone into a shootout. The Canadiens won, 3-2, in a shootout at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.
In the first two minutes of overtime, the Rangers had four shots on Andersen, who made 32 saves through 60 minutes. Lundqvist, also had 30 saves in regulation and added two on breakaways by Leo Komarov and Zach Hyman late in overtime.
Hoping to ignite a struggling power play, Rangers coach Alain Vigneault inserted Brandon Pirri into the lineup, which seemed like a logical move. After all, the Blueshirts had slid into 15th place in the NHL rankings with the man advantage.
The Maple Leafs gave them just one chance to deploy the power play in the first 40 minutes.
But they made the second power play count: Miller crashed the crease and jammed a loose puck over the goal line at 10:50 of the third period to tie the score at 1, with assists from Kevin Hayes and Pirri. It was Miller's third goal in the three games against the Leafs this season and 19th overall. The penalty was drawn when Zuccarello swept to the net and was tripped by Nikita Zaitsev with 11:12 left.
Up by one in the third, the Leafs had 1:21 remaining on a power play that carried over from the second. Rick Nash then was sent off as the power play ended, and the Leafs were shut down again by Lundqvist and the penalty-killers.
The Rangers had their first power play at 11:34 of the second period when Lundqvist was bowled over after he made a save on Fredrik Gautier. But the Rangers' futility continued _ dropping their power-play success at the time to 1-for-21 _ as they managed only one shot without creating much pressure. As soon as the man advantage ended, Lundqvist denied Kadri's breakaway.
The Rangers had numerous chances in the first that were turned away by Andersen, who stopped all 14 shots. He gloved Nash's closeup backhander, and stopped bang-bang attempts by Zuccarello and Chris Kreider. Adam Clendening, in the lineup for Kevin Klein, who was scratched with an upper-body issue, slid two point shots wide.
Toronto's Connor Brown, cutting to the net in front of Kevin Hayes, scored his 15th on a rebound near the right post at 10:56 after Lundqvist kicked out a deflection, for a 1-0 lead.
With Kreider in the box for hooking, Andersen robbed Michael Grabner on a short-handed two-on-one with his left pad, and the fans chanted "Ann-dy, Ann-dy." But in the end, Lundqvist prevailed.
