The Rangers record impressive shutout against Vegas Golden Knights

The game

Despite the Knights looking sharp from the start and ultimately outshooting New York 38 to 25, the Rangers turned the tables on Vegas and secure two precious points. Although the Blueshirts handed the Knights five power play opportunities in true Rangers fashion, Vegas were not able to generate any scoring on the man-advantages.

Period one—Vegas’ Reilly Smith generated an early scoring opportunity less than a minute after puck drop before being denied by Georgiev. For most of the first period, the Knights were able to spend a lot of time in the slot, but nothing came of occupying the prime scoring area.

This match marked Subban’s seventh start in a row with Marc-Andre Fleury a spectator from the bench.  With Fleury just back from a personal leave of absence, head coach Gerard Gallant decided to start Subban, given how well he had been playing.

At the opposite end of the ice, Georgiev was able to shut down the Vegas breakaways and even a 3-on-2 odd man rush, never showing a moment of weakness between the pipes. Vegas, infamously aggressive on the forecheck, put pressure on the Rangers right from the start.

Both teams took multiple long shots on net, but it only took the Rangers 12 minutes to initially change the pace of the game with Panarin’s 14th goal of the season. Defenseman Marc Staal and Tony DeAngelo picked up the assists, contributing to the offensive record the New York blueliners possess.

Kreider’s seventh of the season came with a sigh of relief from the veteran winger as he ended a six-game goal drought. Ryan Strome and Ryan Lindgren registered assists on Kreider’s tip-in to develop a more substantial lead.

Period two— The Rangers follow up all the first period excitement with an equally thrilling middle frame. After only two penalties in the first, the Rangers capitalize on a 4 minute high sticking penalty to Vegas, which was even initially challenged by coach Gallant. Trouba’s fifth of the season, a smooth pass from his skate to his stick, seems to set him on pace for a possible career year, as he came off a 50-point-season last year with the Winnipeg Jets. Strome picked up his second point of the night and defender Adam Fox registered the secondary assist.

Strome delightfully continues to feed quality opportunities to his teammates as he remains one of the Rangers’ best players with 26 points in 29 games. Trouba’s efforts extending the lead didn’t end there; he was able to find Fast who then found the back of the net. Skjei tallied an assist with the fourth goal of the game.

After 15 shots on goal from Vegas and two penalties apiece later, the second period ended and the Rangers looked to build on their comfortable lead. In the past, the Rangers have let up on their focus and this resulted in opposing players scoring. A prime example comes from the New York/Montreal game in which the Rangers lost within the few minutes left.

The result of this game is reassuring in that the Blueshirts learn from their losses and continue to fortify their strengths. Vegas is no easy opponent by any means, and this outcome should only propel the Rangers more as they head into this tough road series.

Period three— Based on the past, heading into the last period can be a little worrisome for the Rangers. Thankfully the abundant lead cultivated the confidence for the group to play even better as the minutes ticked by. Around three minutes into the last, Brendan Lemieux and William Carrier released some tension and receive five minutes each for fighting. Lemieux was clearly a target after his check forced Cody Glass out of the game with an a possible concussion.

Well beyond this point, the Knights couldn’t continue to keep the pace as they did in the first period. The two additional man-advantages for each team solely benefited the Rangers as Zibanejad’s attempted pass deflects off Vegas’ Brayden McNabb past Subban for goal number five.

Even though the Knights were able to ample spend time in their offensive zone, Georgiev denied every opportunity for Vegas, and the five goals put up by the Rangers shouldn’t take away the spotlight from his performance.