After a rough patch earlier in January, the New York Rangers were able to bounce back, riding a win streak into the All-Star break.
This Week: 3-1-0; seven points; 7-5 L @ CBJ, 6-2 W vs. CAR, 4-3 W vs. CHI, 3-2 W @ BOS
The Season (so far): 21-20-7; 49 points; sixth place in the Metropolitan Division; 11th place in the Eastern Conference; 22nd place in the NHL
After a slump last week, winning one out of four games played, the New York Rangers were able to recover this week. On Sunday, they suffered their only loss of the week, falling 7-5 to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Rangers’ goals were scored by Ryan Strome from Filip Chytil and Jesper Fast, Chris Kreider from Boo Nieves and Georgiev(!), Mats Zuccarello from Mika Zibanejad, Zuccarello from Kevin Shattenkirk, and Jimmy Vesey from Brett Howden and Brendan Smith. This capped off New York’s difficult stretch of losing six of seven.
On Tuesday, an offense explosion took down the Carolina Hurricanes 6-2 on Pride Night at Madison Square Garden, extending Carolina’s losing streak at MSG to sixteen games. Tony DeAngelo, Zibanejad, and Pavel Buchnevich all had multi-goal games.
Along with those three, Kreider, Nieves, and Zuccarello had multi-point games as well through assists. The New York goals were as follows; DeAngelo from Vesey and Nieves, Zibanejad from Kreider and Shattenkirk, Zibanejad from Zuccarello and Kreider, Buchnevich from Zibanejad and Zuccarello, Buchnevich from Zibanejad and Zuccarello (again), and DeAngelo from Vladislav Namestnikov and Nieves.
On Thursday, the Rangers beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in a very close original six match-up. The Blueshirts who scored were Chytil (unassisted), Zuccarello from Kreider and Marc Staal, Kreider (unassisted), and Zibanejad (unassisted).
Finally, on Saturday, the Rangers won another one-goal original six game, moving past the Boston Bruins 3-2. New York’s goalscorers were Chytil (unassisted), Zibanejad from Brady Skjei and Zuccarello, and Zibanejad from Shattenkirk and Zuccarello.
This was a much better week for the Rangers, and a few individual players were really able to stand out. However, a few others fell behind, stuck in the shadows of more offensively active players.