New York Rangers: A good 4-1 win against a bad team

The game

The game got off to a slow start as both teams played it cautious.   Both team exchanged chances, but the Rangers took the early lead just 2:23 into the game.

Greg McKegg scored the goal, his second in three games, after a misplay by Jonathan Quick.  What’s important is that the turnover came off a deep dump-in by Ryan Lindgren.    Bret Howden took advantage of the bad bounce away from Quick and fed McKegg who had an open net.

The Kings pushed back hard, but Shesterkin was outstanding.

While Shesterkin doesn’t make it look “easy,” his anticipation and positioning is excellent.

Although they played conservatively, the Blueshirts outshot the Kings 15-10 and help their cause by blocking eight shots.

The second period was more of the same.  Los Angeles got a life when DeAngelo was called for a trip and they had the first power play of the game.  Shesterkin was solid again and though the Kings poured 15 shots on net, they couldn’t score.

It was nailbiting time in the third period.  Mika Zibanejad just missed on a fantastic effort, shooting while falling and hitting the crossbar.

At the 9:20 mark, the Rangers finally got the cushion they were looking for as Kaapo Kakko scored his eighth of the season off a great pass from Chytil.

DiGiuseppe won the battle of the boards and fed Chytil behind the net who passed to a wide open Kakko who buried it.  It was a goal scorers goal as Kakko never hesitated and it was almost a one-timer.

Of course, the Rangers cannot stand prosperity and they allowed a goal by Trevor Moore, the player they acquired from the Maple Leafs on Wednesday.  Shesterkin was off balance and fell, giving Moore the top of the net.  That goal came only 1:27 after Kakko’s tally.

So, it was back to nail biting time until Artemi Panarin scored on the rebound of a Ryan Strome shot.

Jesper Fast batted the puck down in the Rangers’ zone and fed Strome who broke in on a two-on-one with Panarin.  Strome took the shot and the rebound off Jonathan Quick’s pads went right to Panarin who didn’t miss.

The Kings pulled Quick and DeAngelo iced the win by scoring into the empty net with a shot from his own zone. It was DeAngelo’s 13th goal, tied for fifth best in the NHL and only four behind league leader Zach Werenski who has 17.