Quite the polar opposite from Monday Night’s outing but nevertheless, the Rangers got the win as they held off the Canucks in a pretty boring game. If there’s one thing you could say about the Rangers offensive showing it’s that they were certainly consistent as they were credited with 21 goals on the night, with seven in each period. The Canucks didn’t do much better as they only got four more shots on goal and didn’t really stand out one way or the other. They did hang around right until the end and kept the game close on the scoreboard but in the end, the Rangers weren’t going to lose.
Things got started relatively early into the first when K’andre Miller moved the puck up to Vincent Trocheck who then fed Chris Kreider with a perfect pass that he was able to direct into the wide open net, making it a one goal game early. This goal came as goal number 250 for Chris Kreider, tying him with Mark Messier at seven on the all time goal scoring list as a New York Ranger. It’s going to be very interesting to see how the rest of Kreider’s career plays out and where exactly his legacy will stand with the organization. Even with a slight decline, he’s on pace to be among the top point getters that have ever worn the red and blue but thankfully, we have some time before we really need to think about that.
About a minute and a half later, it was the Kid Line striking once again on another play that started with Miller. Filip Chytil would tuck away a backhander in front of the net that beat Spencer Martin and gave Chytil his 19th goal on the season. In case you're wondering or aren’t sure, Chytil is third on the team in goals and one point behind Kreider for fifth in points. The longer Chris Drury waits to get an extension done, the more costly Chytil’s future potential cap hit is going to be. In what’s been a bit of a consistent theme, Chytil’s line was by far the highlight for the Rangers in an otherwise highlight lacking game.
Connor Garland beat Shesterkin later in the first to cut the Rangers lead in half before heading off for the first intermission but with only five shots on goal, the Canucks didn’t have much to show for out of the gate. The Kid Line kept riding hot in the second as Alexis Lafreniere put one away, giving K’Andre Miller his third assist of the night. Vasily Podkolzin would bring the Canucks back within one about ten minutes later for his first goal of the season beating Igor with a solid shot. The Rangers were awarded the only power play of the second period not long after the goal but much of the same as the rest of the night, couldn’t capitalize.
I don’t know if it was because of the 8:00 pm puck drop or if it was just that boring of a game but the third period dragged on and for the first fifteen minutes, there was nothing worth writing home about. Finally, with about four minutes left the Rangers got back on the board as Mika Zibanejad found his 25th of the season off a Jacob Trouba shot from the point. Of course, Elias Pettersson would turn around and get Vancouver back on the board just 11 seconds later on what probably should’ve been an icing call that would have prevented the goal from happening. Nevertheless, it was a one goal game again and the Canucks struggled to even get the chance to pull Martin for the extra attacker.
Filip Chytil was about half a second away from his 20th goal of the season before getting tripped up by Brock Boeser. Was close enough to a goal where the officials probably should’ve awarded Chytil the goal but instead, they just sent Boeser to the box for tripping which pretty much sealed the deal in this one. A three point night for Miller along with another impressive showing from the Chytil line contributed to the Rangers fifth game in a row of collecting at least a point. Chytil now has goals in five straight games and Panarin collected assist number 41 on the year. While this wasn’t a particularly crucial game for the Rangers, there are a couple takeaways the coaching staff and management should have.
For starters, the third defense pairing did not have a strong night. For a good portion of the game it looked as though Harpur might have been benched. It’s no secret that the organization is happy with what Harpur has brought to the table since his tryout with the Wolf Pack at the start of the season. However, for as well liked and solid a player he’s been at times, the Rangers really need to improve on the back end if they want to seriously contend. The lack of depth should be enough of a reason but on a nightly basis, Harpur isn’t going to be the best option, especially come playoff time. The other takeaway is that something has to give on the power play. We’ve tried and tried to get things going again with this top unit and it just doesn’t seem to be working. Look at how good these kids are playing. Move Chytil and Kakko to the top unit and put Kreider and Trocheck with Lafreniere on the second.
The Rangers are back at it tomorrow night as the Seattle Kraken will head into the second half of a back to back in their first trip to the Garden this season. The Rangers will have the advantage of fresh legs as they will look to keep this win streak going for some Friday Night action.
Chris Feldman
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