Rangers 5, Canucks 1: Gawdin’s first two goals fill a decisive second period

Glenn Gawdin scored his first NHL goal at 13:00 of the second period Friday in Vancouver. Three minutes and ten seconds later, he had his second. The Rangers beat the Canucks 5-1, turning a 1-1 game into a four-goal lead before the second intermission.

Gawdin supplied two of New York’s four goals in a 7:49 stretch. It was the first time a Ranger scored his first NHL goal and had a multigoal game on the same night since J.T. Miller on February 7, 2013, according to the club’s postgame notes.

A tied game changes in 7:49

Oliver Bjorkstrand began the burst with a power-play goal at 8:21. Gawdin made it 3-1 at 13:00, Alexis Lafrenière scored at 15:14 and Gawdin finished the sequence at 16:10. The official scoring record makes the progression clear: a go-ahead special-teams goal, followed by three even-strength goals that removed the need for a close finish.

The Rangers had first needed a late answer in the opening period. Elias Pettersson put Vancouver ahead at 12:13. Gabe Perreault tied it at 18:47, assisted by Lafrenière and Miller, so New York entered the first intermission level rather than chasing the game.

Perreault and Lafrenière each finished with a goal and an assist, while Miller had two assists. Dylan Garand made 27 saves on 28 shots. New York outshot Vancouver 31-28, a modest overall edge compared with the four-goal margin. The concentrated scoring in the middle period explains that difference more clearly than the final shot totals.

The road trip ends with six points

New York improved to 12-8-1 and 25 points. The Rangers finished the Western Conference trip 3-1-0, taking six of eight available points, and have won five of their past six games. Friday was their seventh game of the season allowing one goal or fewer, according to the team.

That combination gave the road trip a firm ending: enough offense to separate early, then no Vancouver goal over the final two periods. Gawdin’s milestone was the memorable individual event. The broader result was another night in which the Rangers gave their goaltender a lead that did not require him to be perfect.

The original timeline below follows the four second-period goals. The times are elapsed within the period, not clock time, and the score at each step names New York first.