For the majority of this season, we’ve had plenty of things to question, argue, have concerns with but after this weekend, it’s clear just how good this team really is. An action packed weekend that kicked off with two games in three days against the Penguins and the Predators on the second half of a back to back. These games led the Rangers to pick up six points, as they won all three in regulation, two of which in very dominant fashion. All of a sudden, the Rangers have a chance to catch the Devils and Hurricanes in attempts to secure home ice advantage in the postseason and the best part is, this team still isn’t at their very best. Ryan Lindgren, who is still missing from the Rangers lineup, will undoubtedly only make this team better which given how they’ve looked as of late, can be a very frightening concept for teams around the league. With that, let’s recap all the excitement over the weekend:
Rangers Even Up Mini-series With Penguins
In a bit of an unprecedented stretch of the season where the Rangers faced the same opponent three times in the span of a week, the Rangers bounced back from their overtime loss to Pittsburgh with a win against Washington and kept it going against the Pens in their next meeting Thursday Night. Mika March continued as Zibanejad scored on a breakaway less than three minutes into the first period to make it a 1-0 game in the Rangers favor. The remainder of the period would be rather quiet as neither team found the back of the net again that period and the lone penalty came from Marcus Pettersson in which the Rangers failed to capitalize. Despite the low scoring period, the Rangers out-shot the Pens 12-7 and certainly had the majority of the chances.
To the second we went and it was Pittsburgh slowly but surely turning on the jets, coming alive in this one. They would end up out-shooting the Rangers that period and eventually evened the game up with about five and half left in the second. Rickard Rakell let a quick shot go in front that beat Shesterkin and briefly tied things up. About two minutes later, Tyler Motte found the back of the net for his first regular season goal as a New York Ranger. While this is his second campaign with the team, his only goal last season came in the postseason. Pettersson was sent off for another penalty late in the third but the Rangers were once again unable to convert on the power play.
The games final period would be its busiest as the Penguins once again, tied things up with a rocket of a shot from Jake Guentzal that came from a near perfect assist from Sidney Crosby. One of the several things the Rangers did well in this one was not allowing momentum to grow after Pittsburgh scored as once again, they had an answer shortly after. Chris Kreider would pick up his 29th on the season to eventually hit 30 on the empty net to solidify the games score at 4-2 Rangers. Kreider, who seems to really be clicking on that line with Trocheck and Kane, has now hit the 30 goal mark for the second season in a row after coming just short of it practically every year of his career. One more note on this one was Igor Shesterkin who had 32 saves on the night and definitely kept the Rangers in this one. Perhaps some foreshadowing to the immediate rematch that would follow this game on Saturday.
Part 1 of Rangers Blowout/Shutout Weekend
If they weren’t already, the Rangers have become a serious threat around the league in a span of 48 hours. The Rangers kicked off the first half of the weekends back to back with “game three” against the Penguins. After losing in overtime Sunday Night and getting that big win Thursday, all signs pointed to this being a high intensity game and for one team, it certainly was. The Rangers played a dominant period to start the game and exploded in the second offensively to put up a 6-0 win on the Penguins. The first of two high scoring shutout wins as the Rangers are making noise, letting the league know they’re serious this year.
How many times can we say it, MIKA MARCH as five minutes into this one, Zibanejad slipped a backhander through the legs of Tristan Jarry to make it 1-0. Pittsburgh would be caught with too many men on the ice a minute after the goal that gave the Rangers their first chance on the power play but they wouldn’t convert again until their second chance later in the period. Evgeni Malkin threw a dirty hit on Braden Schneider that sent him off for boarding and roughing as he and Ben Harpur went at it after the hit. The Rangers got a power play out of the play and Artemi Panarin found the back of the net to make it 2-0 going into the second. Despite the Penguins outshooting the Rangers 15-12, things were looking to be working in the Rangers favor once again.
The Blueshirts wasted no time getting after it in the second as Vladimir Tarasenko found the back of the net off a brilliant passing play that resulted in him sending a rocket of a slap shot to the back of the net. I mentioned earlier how the Kreider line is really clicking, the same could be said for Tarasenko, Zibanejad and Panarin. A few minutes later, it was Kreider again converting on a nice play with his linemates to make it 4-0. This surge sent Tristan Jarry to the bench and welcomed Casey DeSmith to the game who took a Jacob Trouba shot off the side of the helmet that redirected into the back of the net to make it 5-0. Two minutes after that, it was Panarin again making it 6-0.
A quiet third period left the score as it was, giving the Rangers a huge 6-0 win. It wasn’t all offense though as Shesterkin continued his brilliant goaltending and certainly earned a well-deserved shutout. The Blueshirts
Part 2 of Rangers Shutout/Blowout Weekend
If you had any fear that the Rangers would be tired from the night before, they quickly showed that wouldn’t be the case. A SIX GOAL first period led the Rangers to their second big win of the weekend as Jaro Halak made some big saves early to propel the Rangers into another dominant win. Took the Blueshirts two and a half minutes to get on the board in this one as Filip Chytil dipsy-doodled around the Preds defenders to finish on a nice move that beat Kevin Lankinen. Five minutes later MIKA MARCH CONTINUES as Zibanejad finished on a nice pass from Panarin at the back door to make it a 2-0 game. Then within a span of six minutes, Tyler Motte, Artemi Panarin and a pair of goals from K’Andre Miller made it a 6-0 game as this one got out of hand rather quickly.
K’Andre Miller made Rangers history as he became the first defenseman in team history to put up four points in one period of play in a brilliant performance by the Rangers young star defenseman. Frankly, after Kreider’s goal in the second, it was almost like the only way the Rangers were trying to score was if it meant getting Key the hat-trick. Panarin’s goal got the Rangers power play unit going and how about Tyler Motte with a goal in each of his last two games? I mean there really isn’t much I or anyone can say about these last couple games aside from the fact that this entire team is clicking at a damn good time. Each line seems to be really flowing, playing exceptional hockey and like I said at the top, they’re doing all this without one of their most important players.
Halak would have a perfect night through 22 saves as both Rangers goaltenders walked out of the weekend with a shutout in each of the team’s big wins. As a fan, you can’t help but smile at these kinds of games where everything just seems to be working and the team is being rewarded for their resiliency throughout the season. The Rangers are back at it for one more game at the Garden on Tuesday before heading out on a two game road trip down south. The schedule chills out just a little bit following that road trip as the Rangers will see some less intense opponents in the final ten game stretch but still have plenty of tests to look forward to this week as well as in the ones that follow.
At this point, the Rangers have 70 games in the books, meaning they only have 12 games left. They now sit five points behind the Devils and six behind Carolina. With three of their remaining games coming against those two team’s, the Blueshirts have a good chance of making strides in the standings as they can potentially pass one or two of those team’s to secure home ice advantage for the playoffs. At the rate the Rangers are playing, you have to like their chances but the closer we get to playoffs, the more you have to focus on everyone being ready and healthy for them. There’s no question this upcoming stretch is going to be the calm before the storm so hope that the team keeps up this dominant streak as the games only become more and more significant.
Chris Feldman
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