In an otherwise monotonous game, Igor Shesterkin had Rangers fans gasping with excitement in the final minute when he made his best attempt yet at an empty net, falling just an inch or two wide. Few goalies in the league handle the puck as well as Igor and even prior to this attempt, you just knew he was going to score a goal at some point in his career and this just further solidified it. It's going to happen, it's just a matter of time. As for the rest of the game, the Rangers got the win despite much exciting action really unraveling throughout this one. We'll take it from the top then address the current state of the team as they have a three day stretch without any games.
The game got off to a decent start until Tim Stutzle came in on a two-on-one about five minutes in, sniping a wrist shot past Shesterkin. Jacob Trouba made the right play when you have a star goalie you're confident in by completely taking away the passing option, forcing the opponent to take the shot. Nine out of ten times, Igor is making that save. Steve Valiquette had a good point about the play in intermission; if that's one of like, five of those kinds of goals that happen throughout the season, can't be too worried about it. Good shot by Stutzle and we move on.
Luckily, the Rangers wouldn't spend too much time down a goal when about two and a half minutes later, Ryan Strome ended his goal scoring drought to tie the game up at one. Artemi Panarin made a great play to get the pass over to Braden Schneider who was coming in hot at the point. Schneider meant to make a pass disguised as a shot, however the redirected ended up on the stick of Strome who this time did not miss a wide open net. 1-1 hockey game.
You have to give credit where it's due, Ottawa played well against the Rangers, outhitting them which is rare for an opposing team to do. They weren't giving the Rangers much room to maintain puck possession, generate offense and at times, clear the puck out. They played hard and limited their chances well, of course until Nikita Zaitsev took a slashing penalty, giving the Rangers their first power play of the game. The Blueshirts top unit got set up and were getting their chances when finally Panarin realized the Senators were likely expecting the puck to get sent over to Zibanejad. Instead of forcing the pass, Panarin walk right in and let a shot go flying over the shoulder of Filip Gustavsson, 2-1 Rangers.
It would be a scoreless third period, the teams would swap penalties but not much would change in this one. Ottawa outshot the Rangers 15-11 in the third but Igor stayed strong, stopping everything that came his way other than Stutzle's shot in the first. His attempt at the empty net goal was the most exciting part of this one as the Rangers once again, took care of business and bounce back from the shootout loss against Detroit on Thursday. The Broadway hat would go to Patrik Nemeth, who made his return to the lineup tonight playing a solid game in the process. While were unsure of the personal reasons that led to him missing time, on top of dealing with lingering COVID effects, you love to see him get rewarded by the team in what was likely a triumphant return for Nemeth personally.
A lot of fans were questioning and upset with the decision to take Zac Jones out of the lineup for Patrik Nemeth and rightfully so. Jones has played incredible since his latest call up and chemistry with Schneider seems to be evident. I'm fine with getting Nemeth back in there if it's for the sake of keeping him fresh, however Jones and Schneider should be a mainstay on that third pairing going forward. Get Nemeth in there every five games or against opponents where you want a veteran presence but there's too much potential with Schneider-Jones to not play them on a consistent basis.
That brings us to another seasoned veteran who is currently playing over a young prospect with promise. Listen, I love Greg McKegg. On a 23 man roster I am good for having him as player number 23, but the fact that he's been consistently in the lineup over Morgan Barron for as long as he has is mind boggling. Don't get me wrong, McKegg had his moments where he looked good and was contributing but eight times out of ten, he's just sprinting up and down the ice. There are times where it doesn't even look like he's looking where he's throwing the puck on the forecheck and unless you're Artemi Panarin or Adam Fox, that's often not going to work.
We can continue making the argument that Barron deserves a look but frankly, as we continue to approach the deadline it's becoming Labatt crystal clear that the Rangers need to improve their forward depth if they want to be serious contenders. I spent all of last season batting for Julien Gauthier, I love Dryden Hunt, a hot and healthy Filip Chytil is great although seemingly growing more and more rare, the Rangers need more. Go all in, acquire players who can score at five v five and stack up that third line. Hunt-Rooney-Reaves as a fourth line is perfect.
Nevertheless, the Rangers are still winning games and that's mostly all you can ask for. There's still lots of time before the deadline but until this team makes a move, they're only growing more and more predictable to play against. They'll be back at it at the Garden on Thursday to take on the Washington Capitals, a team they haven't played since opening night which will be a good test to see how we do against another big divisional competitor.
Chris Feldman
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