VANCOUVER, British Columbia — After struggling to stick in an NHL lineup for the first four seasons of his career, Glenn Gawdin had been grinding it out in the American Hockey League before he got his first big-league chance in just over 2 ½ years on this Rangers four-game road trip out West.
The Richmond, B.C., native maintained the belief that continuing to work hard would allow him to earn another opportunity.
And in his first chance to play in front of his home crowd, inside the arena he grew up less than 30 minutes from, Gawdin scored the first two goals of his NHL career to propel the Blueshirts to a 5-1 win over the Canucks.
It sent the Rangers back home to New York with six of a possible eight points from their longest road trip of the season.
“There’s a lot that goes through your mind over the years,” Gawdin said after the win. “Credit to the circle around me. Credit to my wife. They push me when I need it. I think the success tonight, they have an equal part in that.”
Gawdin only just joined the team during their day off in Calgary earlier this week, but head coach Mike Sullivan summoned the 29-year-old center amid the Rangers’ growing need for a fourth-line center with Joe Veleno still on long-term injured reserve.
With five goals and nine assists through 16 AHL games, Gawdin was tied with Liam Greentree for the Wolf Pack lead in points at the time of the recall. Not only was Gawdin’s play worthy of a look, but the Rangers signed him to a two-year, two-way contract this past offseason.
Gawdin accounted for half of the Rangers’ four-goal second period, which featured a surge of three tallies in the span of 3:09.
“He’s a great kid,” Sullivan said. “Obviously, he’s coming back to his hometown here, he scores two goals. That’s a great thrill, right? …We talked earlier before the game about how unique it is and how special it is for guys to play in their hometown and in front of their family and friends. … Gawds, I think he’s had two pretty good games. I think he played better [Friday] than he did the first game [Wednesday], and him and I had that conversation.
“That first game when you get called up is not easy. The pace of play is different, and he’s also trying to get comfortable with the group. I was thrilled for him.”
Oliver Bjorkstrand broke a 1-1 tie on the power play less than halfway through the middle frame to give the Rangers their first lead of the night.
After Canucks goalie Leevi Merilainen misfired a pass at former Ranger Filip Chytil less than five minutes later, however, Gawdin was right there to clean the puck up and put it away.
The Rangers top line of Mika Zibanejad, Gabe Perreault and Alexis Lafrenière was responsible for the third score of the period, when a pretty passing sequence ended with Lafrenière backhanding his 10th goal of the season past Merilainen at the 15:14 mark.
Gawdin then got a stick on a Vladislav Gavrikov shot for a commanding 5-1 lead heading into the third period.
This was a straightforward win over an inferior opponent. Including a 6-2 loss at Madison Square Garden earlier this season, the Canucks have just one win in regulation this season that dates back to Oct. 3.
The loss Friday night marked their seventh in a row and the 17th in their last 18.
Still, Vancouver maintained possession of the puck for a good portion of the first period, during which they sustained quite a bit of offensive zone time despite recording only three high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.
It led to the home team opening the scoring on the night, when Elias Pettersson got a stick on a Zeev Buium shot from the point.
Jolted by the Canucks goal, the Rangers kicked it into gear and began their push. Perreault then sniped the puck into the tiniest opening above the shoulder of Merilainen for his third goal in the last five games and seventh of the season.
“I think it’s a great trip, obviously, when you can take three out of four,” Sullivan said. “We’re going into some pretty tough buildings with the travel, it’s a big challenge. I thought our guys competed hard. We played hard. It’s not perfect out there, but I really like how this group competes. I thought the group played well game in and game out.”
