Glenn Gawdin scores first two NHL goals to propel Rangers in blowout over Canucks

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.  Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mollie Walker about the inside buzz on the Rangers.And in his first chance to play in front of his home crowd, inside the arena he grew up less than 30 minutes away 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. 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. 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...