What a start to the week it's been with the Rangers kicking off their second road trip of the season with a win and and overtime loss to the Kraken and Canucks respectfully. The team is still struggling to really get going offensively however, with a 6-2-2 record ten games into the season, you have to be more than satisfied. If that doesn't make you happy, surely the news that broke this Monday regarding Adam Fox's future with this team should do the trick. Let's recap on Sunday nights game before getting into the extension details and the overtime loss in Vancouver.
Historic Outing In Seattle Results in Rangers Win 3-1
Despite an offensively lackluster performance, the Blueshirts were able to get two clean points in a 3-1 win against the Kraken. For the first time in history, the Rangers battled with the leagues newest team and played hockey in Seattle, WA. New York got off to the right start, taking an early lead just three minutes into the night, courtesy of a Chris Kreider deflection for his seventh of the season. We always talked about how Kreider's streaky, and you have to wonder if he's just getting hot early in the season or if this year is just different. If it's the later, he's certainly on pace for a career year and that contract extension is looking a lot better than it may have been previously.
After an uneventful rest of the period, it was Jordan Eberle, who the Rangers have plenty of experience playing against from his time on the Island, ripping a backhander past an otherwise perfect Shesterkin to tie the game up at one, about halfway through the night. Seattle peppered the Rangers in the shots on goal department and had it not been from the stellar goaltending of Igor Shesterkin and the near perfect defense from Adam Fox, this game could've looked a lot different.
To the third they went and it was none other than Adam Fox finding the back of the net to give his team the lead. He and Igor would continue to work their magic and a Barclay Goodrow empty net goal would seal the deal, to give the Rangers their sixth win of the season. It wasn't pretty, but it was a win as that's been the narrative for the first stretch of games this season. The team has plenty of work to do, but good teams find ways to win and if they can keep that up throughout the season, they're in a good place.
Seven More Years of Adam Fox
I mean, this is a move that had to be done, and Rangers fans have no reason not to be ecstatic about this deal. Adam Fox easily could get anywhere from 11-15 million dollars on a long term deal with another franchise however, this is his team. He's a New York kid, he grew up a fan, essentially forced his way to this team and now, he's a Blueshirt for the long haul. An AAV of $9.5 million is perfectly fine for a kid who is already a Norris Trophy winning defenseman and no doubt one of, if not our most important player.
This is a deal the New York Rangers Organization is not going to regret nor will the fans. Barring anything drastic, Fox only has room to get better and he's already elite. There are few players that play the game with the calmness, poise and confidence that he plays it with. Some of the plays he make are so risky but he executes them perfectly. He can clear the puck without a problem, his passes always seem to land on the tape of one of his teammates sticks, he even bails out the team in front of the net, blocking shots in front or empty or partially empty nets. He's the best defensman this franchise has seen since Brian Leetch, and will be an instrumental piece to this teams ten year plan.
Rangers Fall To Canucks 3-2 in Overtime
It always seems to be the former Rangers that perform the highest against New York and JT Miller proved that point on Tuesday night. Despite the Rangers establishing the lead and holding it through the third period, it was Miller sparking Vancouver's comeback to take the game in overtime. There were some positives to come from this outing but for the most part, the Rangers are going to want to forget about this one as soon as they get off that plan on the way to Edmonton.
The bright sides? Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. It's no secret these two are the Rangers top offensive players and it's clear they haven't gotten off to the most offensive start this season. These are guys the Rangers need scoring on a regular basis and they both found the back of the net in the second period of their outing against the Canucks. You have to hope that while this game wasn't as exciting of a spark, it is still the spark these two needed to find their shot and continue putting pucks in the net. There's no question these are the guys you want to rely on night in and night out to get one for the team, and you have to think they hate when they're not scoring just as much as the fans do.
Of course the monotony of this game caught up to the Rangers and the Canucks clawed their way back into it. JT Miller scored a minute into the third period and shortly after, Vasily Podkolzin tied it up. The game went to overtime and it was once again, former Ranger JT Miller scoring to take this one away. It's certainly not surprising, nor an excuse for the "jet lag" type of hockey to kick in, especially in the first full season following the pandemic, however it is something to keep in mind.
The Rangers head to Alberta to take on one of the leagues best in the Edmonton Oilers for their third stop of the four game road trip. With a hope that the team has settled into the Western Canada time zone and comes out stronger against Conor McDavid and his first place Oilers, the Rangers will have the chance to get back on track in their second pair of back to back games this season. They're going to need Panarin and Zibanejad to keep the goal scoring train going and for Georgiev to have a big game in one of the two games as he'll likely be back in net for one of them.
Chris Feldman
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