Rangers edge Wild on Artemi Panarin's shootout goal

NEW YORK -- Artemi Panarin scored the deciding goal in a shootout and the New York Rangers beat the Minnesota Wild 4-3 on Tuesday night.

K'Andre Miller and Adam Fox each had a goal and an assist, and Filip Chytil also scored for New York. Igor Shesterkin finished with 28 saves as the Rangers improved to 4-0-2 in their last six games.

Kaapo Kakko scored for the Rangers and Mats Zuccarello for the Wild in the first round of the tiebreaker. Panarin then lifted the puck over a sprawled Marc-Andre Fleury on the Rangers' third attempt, and Shesterkin denied Frederick Gaudreau to preserve the win.

"We played a great game," Fox said. "They got two (goals) early but we battled hard. We could have had more than the three we put up. ... Got a big two points there."

Kirill Kaprizov, Jon Merrill and Zuccarello scored in regulation and Sam Steel had two assists for Minnesota, which is 9-3-2 in its last 14 games. Fleury had a season-high 41 saves.

"We have to take the point and move forward," Zuccarello said. "We were right there. ... Obviously you're not happy when you lose."

Zuccarello put the Wild ahead 3-2 at 4:33 of the third as he skated down the right side and fired a shot from the right circle that went off Shesterkin's glove and in. It was his 17th.

Chytil tied it with 6:25 left, jamming in the puck while he was down after a scramble in front following a centering pass from Fox. It was Chytil's 12th of the season and fourth in four games.

Trailing 2-0 after one period, Miller got the Rangers on the board on a breakaway with his fourth of the season at 2:37 of the second.

"Just a step in the right direction, a little momentum in the building, get the crowd going a little bit," Miller said. "We really liked our game. This is one of our games this season where we can look back and say we played a full 60 minutes."

With the teams skating 4-on-4, Fox tied it after a turnover by the Wild in the neutral zone for his eighth with 4:10 remaining in the middle period.

Merrill got the Wild on the scoreboard first, sending a shot from the right circle past a screened Shesterkin for his second of the season with 7:24 remaining in the opening period.

Kaprizov made it 2-0 as he beat Shesterkin with a shot from the left circle for his 24th with 2:17 left in the first.

The Rangers hit the post three times in the first 20 minutes and Fleury made a stellar glove save while sliding to his left to snare a shot by Kakko late in the period.

INJURIES

The Rangers finished the game down two forwards after Julien Gauthier left early in the first period and Chris Kreider exited midway through the third after a collision with Minnesota's Marcus Foligno. The Rangers had no updates on either player after the game.

RYAN RETURNS

The Rangers had a video tribute for Ryan Reaves in his return to Madison Square Garden for the first time since he was traded to Minnesota on Nov. 23. The rugged forward spent a little more than one season in New York after he was acquired from Vegas in July 2021. He had five goals and eight assists in 81 games for the Rangers.

Addressing media after the morning skate, the 35-year-old disputed the notion he had asked for a trade while being a healthy scratch for eight of the Rangers' 10 games before he was dealt. However, he pushed for it after getting clarity on his role with the team and talks with the Wild were already underway.

"If you're trying to trade me, you don't want me, so then I'm going to push it forward and ask for a trade," Reaves said. "But I'm not the one who put it in motion, we'll put it that way."

UP NEXT

Wild: At the New York Islanders on Thursday night to finish a two-game trip.

Rangers: Host the Dallas Stars on Thursday night in the second of a three-game homestand.

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