First and foremost, happy New Year everyone! Hope 2023 is nothing short of wonderful to you and yours. I took a little break from writing during the holiday stretch so in addition to writing about tonight’s match-up with the Carolina Hurricanes, I’m going to quickly recap how the last stretch of games have looked for the Rangers and touch on some of the hot topics that have come up in that time. The Blueshirts have played three games between Christmas and New Years and in that stretch, have gone 1-1-1. Not terrible results but certainly not great either. Given the lengthy slump the team endured in the month of November, as well as how tight the Metropolitan race is, the Rangers can’t afford to give up games, especially against divisional opponents. Let’s take it game by game before previewing the one tonight, starting with the first game after Christmas against the Washington Capitals.
Abysmal Effort Results in 4-0 Loss to Washington
One of the best parts of the holiday season alongside spending time with friends and family is eating and drinking to our hearts content. As a result, oftentimes in the days that follow Christmas, we have the tendency to feel a bit sluggish or for lack of a better term, “like garbage.” The Rangers were no exception as garbage is a fairly accurate description of how the team looked in that first game against Washington which was quite unfortunate for the fans in attendance which include my Dad and I. The Blueshirts have had their fair share of bad games this season, however I can’t recall a game where they skated around as half-heartedly, reaching for pucks and missing the net when they did have the puck as often as they did in this one. Despite being credited with 32 shots on goal, the Rangers seemed to miss the net way more often than they have in any other game this season. Aside from maybe one or two shifts, this team had no life in their play and Washington didn’t hesitate to take advantage.
Marcus Johansson capitalized on the power play halfway through the first for Washington to make it a one goal game and from that moment on things didn’t look good. Not only were the Rangers failing to show any urgency in their play but the puck was not going in their favor and neither were the calls. The Rangers had a handful of chances throughout the night but none carried much weight. There was a play in the second where the officials reviewed a play to see if Kuemper had crossed the goal line with the puck but sure enough, it was confirmed no goal and play went on with the Rangers scoreless. Not long after, Erik Gustafsson, who had turned some heads just a couple weeks ago when he scored a hat-trick against the Maple Leafs, let a shot go toward the end of the second that beat Shesterkin and extended the Caps lead to two. The Rangers would challenge the play for goaltender interference but again, the result of the call did not favor the Blueshirts and the goal stood.
As if this game wasn’t going poorly enough, just as the second period was about to end, Lars Eller put one away to make it a 3-0 game, sending the Rangers to the locker room with quite the daunting task for the third period. Lots of line jumbling that began in the second period carried on into the third but nothing was going to shake the Rangers out of this rusty showing. No signs of life sparked and sure enough, Conor Sheary eventually sealed the deal with an empty netter to make it four. An incredibly disappointing effort on the Rangers end in a game that was far from meaningless. As we ring in the New Year, the playoff race only tightens and with how good the Metropolitan division is, every two points from this moment on are going to matter, especially in divisional matchups like this one.
Rangers Grab a Point in Shootout Loss to Tampa
Following the loss to Washington, the Rangers headed down to Florida for a two game road trip that started with the team who hasn’t missed the Stanley Cup Final in the last three seasons, the Tampa Bay Lighting. The last time these two team’s saw each other was in the season opener where the Rangers came out on top with a 3-1 win with the emotions of last season’s Eastern Conference Final still lingering. Emotions that have certainly faded as we’ve embarked on a new season as the only thing on the Rangers minds going into this one was bouncing back from a defeating loss at home against Washington. However, that wouldn’t be the main talking point for this one as Alexis Lafreniere, the former first overall pick for the Rangers, would be a healthy scratch as a result of a coach’s decision by Gerard Gallant.
While I wasn’t writing much over the break, I did express a couple of thoughts on this on Twitter so I’ll try to keep my thoughts on this brief. There are several things that can be true in regards to the Lafreniere scratching. First and foremost, it’s fair to question Gallant’s decision as it seemed to come mainly as a result of the loss to Washington where literally no one played well. Lafreniere being scratched wasn’t the only change as Gallant took this opportunity to completely shake up his forward line combinations that have seemed to work very well aside from the rusty showing the night prior. With how deep we are into the season, the Rangers should be way past experimenting with different line combinations. There is a fairly clear idea of what works and what doesn’t at this point and included in that is knowing where Lafreniere thrives best.
On the flipside, the blame isn’t all on Gallant. While there was little to no reason for shaking up the lines as drastically as he did, Lafreniere has not produced all that consistently this season. In 37 games with the Rangers this year, Lafreniere has five goals and twelve assists for a total of 17 points on the season. While those numbers don’t sound bad and indicate that he’s on pace for career high’s, he has only found the back of the net twice in the month of December, contributing towards seven points total. It’s obvious the Rangers need more from him and regardless of his daily usage, he has to be better. At the same time, 17 points while barely seeing any ice-time on special teams, playing mostly on the third line with splashes in the top-six, is pretty solid.
Understandably, this made a ton of headlines and have resulted in a bunch of trade rumors coming up. I find it extremely unlikely that there is any substance to any of that talk but it seems that the scratching was merely an attempt to motivate him to push a little harder. Especially now that we’re fairly certain it was just a one time thing, there really isn’t any reason to think too much about it. It’s a long season, it should be reasonable for a guy to miss one of 82 but nevertheless, hopefully this doesn’t become a recurring discussion and Lafreniere will get back on track sooner rather than later.
Anyway regardless of the line ups, there was a hockey game to be played and this one certainly became a goalies game as two of the league’s best went up against each other in Andrei Vasilevskiy and Igor Shesterkin. Both of which saw over 40 shots between three periods of regulation plus five minutes of three on three hockey. While this was a much better showing for the Rangers, they still weren’t playing like the team that went on a seven game win streak prior to the holiday break. However, they were able to strike first as Mika Zibanejad let a slap shot go high in the slot that snuck its way through Vasilevskiy to make it 1-0 Rangers over halfway through the first. A lead the Rangers would hold all the way through the next two periods of play until Brayden Point found a way to beat Shesterkin for his 20th of the season, tying the game up with five and a half minutes to go.
A scoreless overtime brought the game to a shootout which as always, tends to be a bit of a toss up. Brayden Point once again beat Igor leaving the fate of the game in the hands of Artemi Panarin who had to score to keep it going. As he often does, Panarin patiently faked out the goaltender with a bunch of little dekes before tucking the puck into the back of the net, play goes on. Two rounds of saves from both goaltenders preceded an Alex Killorn goal, once again leaving the fate of the game on the stick of a Blueshirt. This time, it was up to Adam Fox, who got shut down by Vasilevskiy, giving Tampa the win and leaving the Rangers with one of two possible points. While overall it wasn’t a terrible game, the Rangers had so many chances, especially on breakaways even before the shootout to end this game and given their poor effort from the game prior, they should have found a way to win this one. Nevertheless, one point is always better than none and it was on to Sunrise.
Back on Track with a 5-3 Win Over Florida
The Rangers had one more stop on their Florida road trip as they took on the Florida Panthers for game one on the 2023 side of this year's regular season. Going into this one with only one point to show for out of a possible four, there was no question the team needed to find a way to win. To some surprise, the Blueshirt’s were led to the Panther’s ice by Jaroslav Halak whose last start came in Philly two weeks and a day prior to this game. While a start in the near future made absolute sense for the Rangers backup, it was fair to assume they would save him for a game against a weaker opponent, perhaps the Canadiens later this week. Nevertheless, backed by Halak, the Rangers faced-off against a struggling Florida team in a battle of who needs the win more.
Thankfully, it would be the Rangers as Mika Zibanejad got things started yet again, shaking the dust off the Rangers power play unit to make it 1-0. Zibanejad would pick up another halfway through the second, putting away a slap shot off a nice pass from Kaapo Kakko who would go on to have a two-point night. However, following the go ahead goal, the Rangers would struggle with maintaining the lead as the next three goals would immediately be followed with a goal from a Florida Panther. Zibanejad’s second was followed with a Nick Cousins shot that snuck through Halak, cutting the Rangers lead in half for the first of three times. Two minutes later, Chris Kreider would finish off another beautiful pass from Kakko to make it 3-1.
A common theme in this game was careless penalties as the team’s combined for eight penalties, splitting man advantages at four a piece. Ben Harpur would take a stupid boarding penalty not long after Kreider’s goal and sure enough, Sam Bennett would capitalize on the power play for the Cats, making it 3-2 going into the final period. Carter Verhaeghe would kick off the third with the final penalty of the game and Vincent Trocheck would poke home a loose puck to extend the Rangers lead 4-2. Of course, a little over a minute later, Eric Staal would find the back of the net, bringing his team within once yet again. Thankfully, Artemi Panarin would have the final say on a wrist shot for his tenth of the season, giving the Rangers a 5-3 lead that held till the final buzzer. Once again, a far from perfect showing but definitely a great way to kick off 2023 as the Rangers picked up a pair of much needed points.
Rangers Game Day vs. Carolina Hurricanes 1/3/2023
It’s Rangers game day and boy is it a big one as the Blueshirts host the Carolina Hurricanes for the first time this season. The last time these two teams saw each other they were shaking hands at center ice as the Rangers had just come from behind to beat the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. A lot has changed since then and one thing the Hurricanes haven’t done much of in that time frame is lose. Going into tonight’s game, the Hurricanes have only lost six games in regulation, with a record of 25-6-6 on the year. On top of that, they’re currently on an eleven game win streak, 15-1-4 in their last twenty. Incredibly impressive numbers from this Hurricanes team that understandably lead the Metropolitan Division with 56 points as they continue distancing themselves from everyone else in the division.
The Hurricanes are getting contributions up and down their line up but leading the way are young stars Martin Necas and Andrei Svechnikov. Necas specifically has been a key part of their recent success with three goals and three assists in his last five games. Among their hot rollers is Brett Burns who has been quite the upgrade on the back end after the Hurricanes moved on from Tony DeAngelo in the offseason. As if things haven’t been going good enough for Carolina, they could be on the cusp of having Max Pacioretty, who has missed all of the season so far, return to the line-up. No word on whether that will be tonight but even without him the Hurricanes are a deep team. One of the biggest surprises on their roster has been Stefan Noesen who is currently fifth on the team in points with eight goals and twelve assists on the year. Those twenty points accumulate for just shy of a third of his career tally. Do with that what you will but nevertheless is quite indicative of Carolina’s success from an organizational standpoint.
On the Rangers side, don’t expect much to change from the last game aside from Igor Shesterkin returning to the starters net. The Blueshirts are coming off a much needed win in Florida Sunday Night and will look to build off it, hopefully toward another win streak. With Carolina being on such a lengthy win streak, you have to think they’re due for a loss and the Rangers will look to ensure that comes from tonight’s game. The Rangers currently sit two points ahead of Pittsburgh in the first Wild Card position. A win tonight accompanied by a Washington loss would move the Rangers up to third in the Metro, making the win all that more important. It’s becoming more and more evident that the Metro Division is going to be a tight race, making these kinds of matchups and nightly points all the more imperative.
As far as the lineup goes, you can expert the same as last game:
Kreider - Zibanejad - Kakko
Panarin - Trocheck - Kravtsov
Lafreniere - Chytil - Vesey
Blais - Goodrow - Gauthier
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Harpur - Schneider
One of the big takeaways from the last two games is how well Kaapo Kakko has played and it’s helping Mika Zibanjead get his game back on track. Those two will be among the players to watch for the Rangers as they are leading the way for the Rangers with multiple goals and assists in the last five games. Vincent Trocheck, who leads the team with five points in the last five games will also be a player to watch and one of the bigger story lines as he plays his former team for the first time this year. For as much as his contract has been a concern for the Rangers long term, Trocheck has had an extremely respectable year and has been a big part of the team’s success on the season.
It’ll be interesting to see which side gives as both teams have gotten exceptional goaltending this season, both standing in the league’s top ten in goals against per game. Special teams will be something to keep an eye on as both sides are great shorthanded but struggle with the man advantage. The Rangers however, had a pair of power play goals in their last game and with Mika finding the back of the net more consistently again, will hopefully be able to keep that rolling into tonight’s action. This will undoubtedly be a big test for the Rangers in what is the first of several tough match-ups they kick off the New Year with. Every game from here on out is going to matter as the playoff picture begins to develop more and more clearly.
Chris Feldman
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