The Rangers wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in this one, but a lack of registered shots on goal left Gerard Gallant pretty unsatisfied with the efforts from his new lines. From a surface level, the Rangers appeared to be in full control of this one as they carried a 5-1 lead into the back half of the third period and finalized the game with a score of 6-2. However, there were long spurts throughout the early parts of this game where the Rangers were held without a shot on goal despite generating offensive zone puck possession. At times, the Rangers controlled play in dominant fashion and in others, play just sort of went on.
They did however, waste no time getting involved in this one as Adam Fox borderline embarrassed Alex Lyon with a simple move that deked him out of position leaving the entire side of the net open. Fox put home the backhander to continue his impressive point streak, proving he is certainly worthy of being named an NHL All-Star. His goal gave the team an early lead but it wouldn't last long as the Rangers were called for too many men about a minute after the goal. The Panthers power play unit hit the ice and the Rangers penalty killers got caught puck chasing which resulted in a pretty passing play from Eetu Luostarainen and Anton Lundell who fed it across the slot to Carter Verhaeghe to make it a 1-1 game. Not many whistles after that Verhaeghe goal as play continued and each team had their fair share of possession. Not a ton of shots either way as the Rangers were held to just one shot on goal for the longest time in the first.
With about five minutes left in the period, Nick Cousins delivered a bit of a cheap shot to Chris Kreider who was sent into the boards from behind. The penalty ended up being for cross-checking but regardless, a briefly scary scene. The Rangers power play went to work and believe it or not, were able to convert. Mika Zibanjead with his signature one timer found the back of the net off assists from Panarin and Fox. Assist number 37 on the season for both of them. The Rangers carried the lead to the intermission despite being outshot 8-6. Much of the same carried into the second period as the Rangers continued to struggle getting consistent shots on goal. They killed off the final power play of the night as Ben Harpur was sent off for tripping and much of the same type of play followed.
With five minutes to go in the period, Jimmy Vesey put away a “Greasy” goal in front of the net to extend the Rangers lead to 3-1. The Rangers carried that life into the third as Alexis Lafreniere finally got the monkey off his back and found the back of the net for the first time since December. Not the prettiest of goals as it was another loose puck in front of the net but sometimes that’s all it takes for a guy to get his confidence back and hopefully that becomes the case for Alexis. Fourteen seconds later, Mika Zibanejad put away his second of the night to extend the Rangers lead to 5-1. Assists once again coming from Panarin and Fox for their 38th of the season.
I wrote about the Panthers being on the outside looking in going into this game and that desperation became evident in the third when Paul Maurice decided to pull the goalie for the extra attacker with nine minutes left in a 5-1 game. You don’t often see this but for Rangers fans, it was a dream come true as it meant plenty of time for Igor Shesterkin to go for the empty netter. However, it initially seemed like it could work for the Cats as Sasha Barkov let a shot go on a weird angle that just missed the back of Igor’s glove. Back to the bench went Lyon and the chances started coming for Igor. The first one took a weird bounce as the puck was coming to him, leaving him unable to handle the puck cleanly but not long afterwards, he was able to let a beautiful snap-shot go that sent the puck just INCHES from the gapping net. Any night with an empty net on the opposing side is exciting for Rangers fans for this very reason but seeing Igor come so close once again left you on the edge of your seat.
Artemi Panarin had the chance to put this one away with an empty netter and I swear he missed on purpose so Igor could get another crack at it. Although, Filip Chytil wouldn’t get that memo as he sent one into the empty net for his thirteenth of the season, giving assists to both Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko. Alex Lyon returned to the net as the teams awaited the clock to run out, giving the Rangers another big pair of points, keeping them in third place in the Metro Division.
To some surprise, Gallant actually rolled “The Kid Line” as the team’s second line as they saw about the same amount of ice time as the Vesey-Trocheck-Goodrow line. As long as that continues to be the case, it seems as if these very well could be the lines that stick for now; however, Gallant seemed to feel indifferent on them. Following the game, he told reporters that he honestly wasn’t too happy with them and may have alluded to the lines hitting the blender once again. Whether or not that’s true will remain to be seen but for now, a win is a win and you can’t be too mad about that.
The Rangers will head across the border into Ontario as they prepare for another battle with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday Night. The Rangers will look to build off the momentum established in this win as this definitely has potential to hold a playoff type of energy.
Chris Feldman
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