The Rangers got back on track with another explosive offensive showing, beating the Ducks by a score of 6-4. While it wasn’t a perfect game by any means, there is something to be said about this Rangers team who in their first four games of the year, have put up 17 goals on the likes of Andrei Vasilevskiy, Marc-Andre Fleury, Connor Hellebyuck, and now John Gibson. It’s still very early but from what we’ve seen in these early stages, it’s hard not to feel good about this team's goal scoring abilities. Especially when you consider goals have come from ten different players throughout that stretch.
The Rangers wasted no time getting into it as they began generating offense right out of the gate. They out-shot the Ducks 16-9 throughout the first and got themselves on the board just over seven minutes into the period. As a result of the Rangers strong offensive zone presence, Mason MacTavish took a delay of game penalty, giving the Rangers their first power play of the game. If there was one main take away from last night’s game, it’s the dominance of the Rangers top power play unit who went 3 for 4 throughout the night, starting with another Frank Vatrano… excuse me, Vincent Trocheck slap shot to put them on the board early. Gotta say, I know a lot of people weren’t thrilled about Trocheck’s contract, (myself included) but he’s looked real good to start the season. On top of his assistance in strengthening the team’s face-off winning percentage, he’s been a huge upgrade from Strome on the power play.
About four minutes after the Trocheck goal, the Rangers power play unit would get their second chance of the night off a Derek Grant holding penalty. Sure enough, the man advantage ended with the puck in the back of Anaheim’s net, this time as a result of a Mika Zibanejad one timer. Speaking of which, I’m not saying Zibanejad is an Alex Ovechkin, but I do think it’s time we start putting his one timer on the power play in the Ovechkin level conversation. With four goals in four games, Zibanejad is very much getting off to the right foot this season and you have to think if he stays on track, he could be the next Rangers player to hit the fifty goal mark. Frank Vatrano, this time for real, would humble the Rangers with his classic wrist shot that beat Igor Shesterkin upstairs to cut the lead in half as the Blueshirts would take a 2-1 lead to intermission.
The second period got off to a bit of a shaky start as Anaheim quickly came out firing on all cylinders, trying to avoid their third loss in a row. What really killed the Rangers momentum was Jacob Trouba taking a hard one timer right to the head, resulting in him having to leave the ice to go get checked out. Thankfully, Trouba was alright and would return later in the period but the Rangers were definitely a little shaken seeing their captain take a shot like that. That next shift, it was Trevor Zegras finding his second of the season off another wrist shot that beat Shesterkin. For a New York kid, it had to be a special feeling scoring a goal on Garden ice and you can definitely see it in his reaction.
Approaching the halfway point of the game, the Rangers regained the lead this time off a Mika Zibanejad shot that deflected off of Kaapo Kakko’s stick, hit John Klinberg’s skate then went in the back of the net. It certainly appeared to be Kakko’s goal but the officials originally gave Zibanejad the credit before the credit was later given to Kakko for his second of the year. The Rangers wouldn’t score on their next power play attempt but just 22 seconds after the man advantage expired, Alexis Lafreniere buried a shot off a perfect pass from Filip Chytil. The Kid Line, that remained out there following the end of power play two’s shift, kept working and found the back of the net as a reward.
In the final minute of the second, Artemi Panarin who had been struggling on breakaway’s but certainly not struggling on the score sheet, let a perfect snapshot go that would inevitably end John Gibson’s night to five the Rangers a 5-2 lead. Panarin, who already had two points on the night, collected his second goal of the season as he now leads the league in points at ten with Mika Zibanejad in a close second with eight. Not a bad start for two of the Rangers top forwards.
To the third we go and after about five minutes, it was Max Comtois putting one away off a Kevin Shattenkirk feed. Despite the Rangers offensive strengths throughout the night, they weren’t great defensively and Igor wasn’t at his best which kept Anaheim on the scoreboard. The Rangers power play would get their fourth and final chance about halfway through the third and once again, it was Mika Zibanejad finding the back of the net with a rocket of a shot. By that point, this one pretty much felt over but Derek Grant would find one more for the Ducks with four minutes to go. Anaheim pulled Anthony Stolarz who replaced Gibson in the third for the extra attacker but couldn’t generate much.
The Rangers would tally up 43 shots to Anaheim’s 22, were near perfect on the power play, out-hit and for the most part, out-played their opponents. Defensively, there is a lot this team can clean up on and that’s definitely something both the coaching staff and the players are taking note of. Head Coach Gerard Gallant said in the media scrum after the game that he “doesn’t want to win games like that.” Talked about how winning every night is ideal but letting in as many goals as they did last night isn’t going to fly. With that in mind, expect the Rangers to work on their defensive game in practice this week and look for them to be tighter against San Jose on Thursday.
On top of all the offensive flare that came from this game, Sammy Blais made his regular season debut, playing in his first real game since November, almost one whole year ago. For what it’s worth, Blais looked real good throughout the night, wasting no time getting involved in his first shift with a big hit and a great play. If he can stay healthy, I truly feel that a lot of fans are going to be so happy with what this player can do for our team. A well deserved recipient of last night’s broadway hat as it has to feel good for everyone having him back in that locker room. The Rangers are back at it on home ice Thursday Night against their former Head Coach in David Quinn and the San Jose Sharks. Look for the Rangers to keep the wins coming with a better defensive showing.
Chris Feldman
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