The final game of the 2024 NHL Stadium Series was an absolute thriller, as the New York Rangers mounted a huge comeback against the New York Islanders in regulation before securing a 6-5 win in the first 10 seconds of overtime.
The Rangers found themselves down 4-1 in the second period, but they pushed hard to get an extra period. Artemi Panarin made the efforts worth it in overtime, sending the crowd of 79,690 at MetLife Stadium into a frenzy when he scored the game-winner by bouncing the puck off Islanders goalkeeper Ilya Sorokin and defenseman Noah Dobson and into the net.
Before the Rangers could officially celebrate, there had to be a video review of the crazy play. It was confirmed shortly after, and the Rangers are now on seven-game winning streak.
“Honestly, I have to say the atmosphere was electric,” Panari told NHL analyst Jonny Lazarus. “It was something I can’t compare anything else to. I had to hold back tears because it was that much of a spectacle. Once again I have to thank the fans for giving it that electric feeling and waive of emotion.”
Rangers defenseman Erik Gustafsson scored the first goal of the game at 1:28 of the first period, but the Islanders responded with three of their own before those first 20 minutes were up. The second period featured an early goal from Anders Lee to put the Islanders up 4-1.
The Rangers didn’t give up, but their two goals in the second period were still not enough as the Islanders’ offense kept clicking. Alexander Romanov gave the Islanders a 5-3 lead early in the third, and his team seemed like it was going to walk away with the win — at least until the last five minutes of regulation.
Chris Kreider scored on a tip-in with about four minutes left, which at that point meant the Rangers were still down by one goal. Mika Zibanejad’s slapshot with 1:29 remaining then tied the game, however, and gave us free hockey.
These rivals hadn’t seen each other in the regular season since Dec. 22, 2022, and it was definitely worth the wait. The 11 total goals scored Sunday became the most in an outdoor game in NHL history. The Islanders are now 22-18-14, while the Rangers are 36-16-3 and remain undefeated in outdoor games at 5-0.
