The New York Rangers are now 2-0-0 to begin a season for the first time since 2015-16 after Mika Zibanejad put on an absolute clinic against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday.
After coming out on top against the Winnipeg Jets in a wild home opener on Thursday, the New York Rangers have enjoyed a hell of a start to the 2019-20 NHL regular season.
Although it may not have been as thrilling as the pulsating victory over the Jets, the Rangers did what they had to do and put in a more complete performance to win each of their first two games in a season for the 16th time in franchise history.
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All the accolades will go to Zibanejad and rightly so after the forward registered a four-point night for the second consecutive game, potting a hat trick and recording an assist on yet another power play goal by the Blueshirts.
Artemi Panarin continued his hot start to life as a Ranger with another two-point night, while Pavel Buchnevich helped himself to two assists as the Blueshirts’ potent top line continues to dominate.
Alexander Georgiev made his first start of the year between the pipes and he was sensational, producing a number of big saves particularly on the penalty kill with the Ottawa Senators being given plenty of opportunities to punish their guests on the power play.
Overall, it was another hugely encouraging showing from these New York Rangers who have come out of the gate ready and raring to go in 2019-20.
Although there are still kinks to be ironed out and they beat up on a Ottawa team that is clearly still in transition and going through a rebuild of their own, good teams get the job done against lesser opposition and the Blueshirts are providing tantalizing evidence early on that this roster has what it takes to potentially play meaningful games deep into April and beyond.
With that said, let’s go over the main takeaways we had from the New York Rangers’ 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators last night…