The New York Rangers head to the Desert
By Rachel Nones
It’s been a busy week for the New York Rangers that started with a loss to the Vegas Golden Knights Monday night. Coming off a tough loss against the Montreal Canadiens Friday, the Rangers look to get revenge with a win on the road in Vegas.
The New York Rangers saw the Knights six days ago at Madison Square Garden in a rough game that resulted in a 4-1 defeat. The loss to Vegas put a quick halt to the Rangers’ hot streak. Although playoff contention shouldn’t be ruled out quite yet, it was not a good look for New York, but now it’s time for a fresh start.
Against Vegas, the Rangers were outshot 28-19 after two periods. They were able to narrow the gap and get pucks on the net in the third period. Brendan Lemieux was the Blueshirts’ lone goal scorer while Alex Tuch netted two, Reilly Smith one, and Max Pacioretty sunk the last for the Knights.
A profoundly weak defensive performance by the Rangers led to all of the Vegas goals. Three of the goals were shots for wide open players and one was a breakaway. The Rangers will need to bring intensity to this entire game in order to achieve a different result.
The main takeaways from the Rangers win over the Columbus Blue Jackets were quite clear– stay out of the penalty box and keep up with the opposing team’s shot count. From the Friday game against the Montreal Canadiens, the lesson was to maintain the pace up for all 60 minutes and stay sharp.
Since the Vegas game, the Rangers stole a win in Columbus and despite losing, they looked much better against the Canadiens. With two days to rest and time to reflect, the Rangers should enter this game with a strong mindset and hungry for a different outcome.