Chris Kreider's overtime goal breaks scoreless tie, lifts Rangers over Flyers

When Chris Kreider scored the only goal of the game, in the final minute of overtime Tuesday night, Gerard Gallant didn’t even see it.

“I actually looked away because I was a little superstitious,’’ the Rangers coach said after Kreider’s goal gave the Blueshirts their third straight win, 1-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Garden. “I don't even know how it went in, to be honest with you. I'll look later. I'll watch it on TV tonight.’’

Kreider took a pass from Mika Zibanejad at the red line and scored on a breakaway with 52.8 seconds left in the overtime, driving right at Flyers goaltender Carter Hart and then pulling the puck to his backhand and tucking it in.

Zibanejad had collected the puck off the boards near the Rangers’ blue line, after Philadelphia’s Travis Konecny had taken a shot at Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin that missed high and wide and caromed out. He and Kreider were on a two-on-none break, and he sent a soft pass ahead to Kreider to send him in alone on Hart.

“I told Mika I thought he was going to come with me,’’ Kreider said of the winning play. “A little panic set in when I saw he was just giving it to me and letting me take it.’’

It was Kreider’s second clean breakaway in the game. He’d had a chance in the second period when the Rangers were shorthanded, killing a penalty to Artemi Panarin, and Adam Fox had sprung him with a pass up the middle. But that time, Kreider shot the puck to Hart’s stick side, and it rang off the post. It was one of four goalposts the Rangers hit during the game.

So this time, Kreider decided to go to his backhand, and that worked.

Or maybe it was Gallant deciding to look away that changed the Rangers’ luck.

“I do that a lot in shootouts,’’ Gallant said. “And actually, the first time, I looked when he had the breakaway when we were shorthanded. So this time I said, 'I'll just look away.' So it worked.’’

The win lifted the Rangers (6-3-2, 14 points) into first place in the Metropolitan Division, pending the result of the Devils’ late game in Vancouver. A victory by the Devils would pull them into a tie with the Rangers for the division lead.

“We're playing well,’’ Gallant said. “They're working hard and I'm happy with the way our team's playing. Even though we lost those two games prior to the three-game winning streak, I thought we played really well. So that's where it starts. You’ve got to play well and you start getting results, with points.’’

The Rangers dominated possession in the game and outshot Philadelphia 36-19. But Hart was solid for the Flyers, and Philadelphia actually had a couple chances to win the game late. Shesterkin, who started all three games of the winning streak – over a four-day span – was sharp when he needed to be, and earned his first shutout of the season.

“The past two games there’s not been a lot of work, just because the guys have been working really hard in front of the net,’’ Shesterkin said through a translator. “I can always see the puck, I can always see the shots. It’s been pretty easy.’’

The Rangers had a chance to win the game in regulation when their old teammate, Tony DeAngelo, was given a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass with 4:35 left in the period. They couldn’t convert on the power play and another former Ranger, Kevin Hayes, nearly won it with a shot from the lower left circle. Shesterkin snatched it with his catching glove.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.