The New York Rangers celebrate the winning goal by New York Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Rangers complete wild Stadium Series comeback with chaotic overtime goal

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 2/18/24

The New York Rangers were 6-5 winners over the New York Islanders in Sunday's Stadium Series game at MetLife Stadium, and it required a late third-period comeback and a chaotic overtime goal to get them the win.

After erasing a 5-3 deficit with under five minutes to play in the third period, Rangers star forward Artemi Panarin scored the game-winning goal just 10 seconds into the overtime period by taking advantage of a brutal Islanders turnover in front of the net.

That was simply where the madness began.

BREADMAN ALWAYS DELIVERS. pic.twitter.com/exWaK3Gtbg
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 18, 2024

After gaining possession of the puck, Panarin was initially stopped by Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin. His rebound attempt then hit off of a sliding Noah Dobson, bounced off the back of Sorokin, and then slowly slid across the goal line as Dobson knocked the net out of place.

The net was clearly dislodged when the puck crossed the line.

The reason the goal is still allowed to count is that the Islanders were the team that knocked the net off while Panarin was in the process of taking the shot, and it would have still gone into the net had it not been knocked off.

It is a thrilling win for the Rangers, but a crushing defeat for the Islanders who had leads of 4-1 and 5-3 in the game. Their inability to stay out of the penalty box, successfully kill penalties, and even make a simple play with the puck in overtime all added up to an outcome that saw them give away a huge point in the standings they could not afford to lose.

Sunday's game wrapped up an entire weekend of outdoor hockey at MetLife Stadium that saw more than 140,000 fans attend. On Saturday the New Jersey Devils defeated the Philadelphia Flyers by a 6-3 margin, while the Rangers were 6-5 overtime winners on Sunday against the Islanders.

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