The Rangers finish off their home stand and head to the road following a 3-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres. This was not the prettiest win the team has collected but at the end of the day, a win is a win and that is exactly what this team needs. NYR came out flying at the start of this one, similar to how they started against the first of two against Boston. Less than 30 seconds in, Zibanejad sent Buchnevich on a breakaway from a nice stretch pass down the zone. Buchnevich was knocked off the puck slightly by Rasmus Dahlin's stick but recovered enough to get a shot off, past Carter Hutton. This happened so early, Sam Rosen was still mentioning the starting lineups coming in at the top of our screens.
This excitement would, of course be short lived. Just seconds later Buffalo would enter the zone and Victor Olofsson would find Sam Reinhart back door to tie it up. K'Andre Miller fully bit at Olofsson, thinking he had his defensive partner covering Reinhart. However, what Miller did not know after committing to Olofsson was Brendan Smith had blown a tire leaving Reinhart all alone. Moving on, and quickly was the Rangers top line once again. At times throughout the game, the Rangers were executing a near perfect forecheck. Mika entered the zone on this play but couldn't catch up to the puck, he would not give up on the play, putting pressure on the Buffalo defender. He would end up with the puck and find Buchnevich in the slot who cut to his forehand side and shot to an almost empty net. Almost empty net as Lafreniere was right in front, the puck would hit off of the rookie to put the Rangers up 2-1.
About halfway through the second, Chris Kreider would let a shot go through a screen for the teams third goal, one Buffalo goaltender Carter Hutton most certainly did not have eyes on. Kreider himself must not of had eyes on it as he seemed more surprised than anyone that his shot found the back of the net. This would be the Rangers most tenured players tenth of the season, as he leads his team in the category. The only problem here was following Kreider's goal, the Rangers would not get a shot on goal for the remainder of the period, not what you want to happen. With under four minutes to go in the second, Tobias Rieder let a shot go from high in the slot to find the back of the net, 3-2.
The third period would be uneventful and rather meaningless in the result of the game. Rookie Dylan Cozens would drop the gloves with Ryan Lindgren in an effort to spark his team but with a couple minutes on the clock, Buffalo would pull Hutton for the extra attacker. Unable to generate much the true highlight was Rangers goaltender Igor Sheshterkin shooting for the empty net on more than one attempts. I know I'm not the only one making such a promise, but mark my words, he will score a goal one of these days.
Some more good news came from yesterday, Kaapo Kakko has been taken off the leagues Covid list. Additionally, Trouba is making great progress and Panarin is considered "day-to-day". One thing I am going to say right now is when Kakko and or Panarin return, the Rangers would be foolish to take Julien Gauthier out of the lineup. The young Rangers forward is playing more confidently and generating more opportunities in the offensive zone. Whereas Brett Howden still seems to be just existing on the ice and Brendan Lemieux continues to struggle with making plays and finding the puck. We'll know more either today or tomorrow but it will certainly be interesting to see how the lines shape up with Kakko's return. Regardless, the Rangers left the Garden with a win tonight and need to continue to do so on the road the next two weeks.
Chris Feldman
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