On the way to an ugly blowout, the New York Rangers displayed a bucketload of character to mount an unlikely and stunning comeback that ultimately fell just short.
In what was the final game of the year for the Blueshirts, they both put up an absolute stinker before threatening to stage the comeback of the Decade.
The game couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start for the Rangers, who allowed James Neal to score past Alexandar Georgiev with just 11 seconds on the board.
Neal added his second on the power play as poor execution in the faceoff circle continued to hurt the Blueshirts, while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tipped a Ethan Bear shot past a clearly flustered Georgiev.