New York Rangers: A good 4-1 win against a bad team
The New York Rangers learned a lesson from their dispiriting loss to the Sabres Friday night and came out and played a defensively responsible and opportunistic game, beating the Kings 4-1.
New York Rangers fans got a glimpse of the future in this game. The key contributors all have a chance to spend a lot of years at Madison Square Garden. As inconsistent as the Blueshirts have been this season, this game was an example of what could be.
The legend of Igor Shesterkin grew with this game as the rookie netminder made 42 saves and won his fifth game in six starts. This was a tight 1-0 game until late in the third period and while it was not scintillating hockey, it was was a good way to win.
Goals came from Kaapo Kakko, Tony DeAngelo, Artemi Panarin and Greg McKegg. Filip Chytil chipped in with two assists as did Phil Di Guiseppe. Shesterkin, Kakko and Panarin are all going to be on Broadway for many years and DeAngelo is making a strong case to stay. While McKegg is a fee agent after this season as is DiGuiseppe, the latter is making a case for himself to come back.
The Blueshirts didn’t fall into the same trap that they did against the Sabres. Confronted with a defensively oriented team that doesn’t score a lot of goals, the Rangers matched them check for check and rode an early goal by McKegg into the third period. A Kakko goal put the Rangers up by two goal, but the Kings came back it was up to Artemi Panarin to ice it with his 28th goal of the season.
It was solid win and significant that the thee stars of the game, Shesterkin, Chytil and Giuseppe, all spent time in Hartford. The pipe line is starting to pay off.
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.
Notes on the game
- There was some dirty play by the Kings around the Rangers net. Alex Iafallo tried to use his skate to dislodge a puck under Shesterkin and the Ranger goalie took a slash to the head in the second period. No penalties called.
- This was Igor Shesterkin’s best game as a Ranger. The one goal was the fewest he has allowed in a game and his 42 saves were second to the 46 he had against the Devils.
- After the game, David Quinn acknowledged that the goalie rotation is gone. He said “The best guy is going to continue to play. Keeping people sharp is no longer the high priority of ours , it’s going to be winning hockey games and the guy who plays well is going to keep playing.” It sure looks like Shesterkin will be getting his first road start on Tuesday in Winnipeg.
- In a contest in which the fourth line scored on their first shift, Quinn rolled four lines throughout the game. No Ranger forward played over 20 minutes in the game, only the fifth time that has happened this season.
- Kaapo Kakko played consistently on the third line with Chytil and DiGuiseppe and the trio demonstrated some real chemistry. It was his first goal in 14 games and he has a two game point scoring streak. His has had one three game point scoring streak so far this season.
- This was Chytil’s first two assist game his career, a good sign for the young center. He now has 20 points in 45 games, three shy of the points total he had in 75 games last season.
- For Phil Di Giuseppe, this was his third game with the Rangers and he also had two assists. He’s no rookie, having played 150 games in the NHL before this season. The 26-year old had one goal and three assists last season for Carolina and Nashville. He notched 17 points in his rookie season in 2015-16 while with the Hurricanes.
- By scoring his 28th goal in his 53rd game this season, Artemi Panarin equaled the total he scored last season in Columbus in 79 games. He only needs to score three more goals to equal his career high of 31.
- The Rangers had only one power play, the fourth time this season that they have one or fewer power plays in a game.
- This was the Rangers’ 30th home game of the year. They have played only 24 road games this season so that is a concern. While they are 16-12-2 at home, they are only 11-11-2 on the road.
- The split the two games this season with the Kings and it improved their record against the Pacific Division to 4-7-2. The Pacific is the only Division against which the Rangers are under .500.
The playoff picture
It was a very quiet day for scoreboard watching with none of the teams within reach ahead of the Rangers in action. With their win, the Blueshirts were able to pick up two points on all of their playoff rivals and now are back to within nine points of Carolina, occupying the last wild card spot with a game in hand.
The standings
Atlantic Div. GP W-L-OTL PTS RW
Boston 57 34-11-12 80 30
Tampa 55 35-15-5 75 30
Toronto 56 29-19-8 66 22
Met Div. GP W-L-OTL PTS RW
Washington 55 36-14-5 77 27
Pittsburgh 54 34-15-5 73 23
Columbus 56 30-17-9 69 23
Wild Card GP W-L-OTL PTS RW
Islanders 53 31-16-6 68 20
Carolina 55 32-20-3 67 22
Contenders GP W-L-OTL PTS RW
Philadelphia 55 30-18-7 67 21
Florida 54 29-19-6 64 24
Montreal 57 27-23-7 61 17
Rangers 54 27-23-4 58 24
Buffalo 56 24-24-8 56 18
New Jersey 54 20-24-10 50 15
Ottawa 55 18-26-11 47 14
Detroit 57 14-39-4 32 11
The key games Monday
There are four games to watch for on Monday.
Coyotes @ Canadiens – The Rangers are three points behind Montreal and they have three games in hand (four after this one). Root for the Coyotes to win on the road.
Panthers @ Flyers – This is a huge game for both teams as the Panthers are three points behind the Flyers and both team are within reach of the Rangers. It’s more import to catch Philadelphia so root for Florida and please, no overtime!
Islanders @ Capitals -The Islanders have been a .500 team for a few weeks now and are only ten points up on the Rangers though they are the only team that has played fewer games than the Rangers. The Caps are not catchable so root for Ovi and company.
Lightning @ Blue Jackets – Columbus is 11 points up on the Rangers and have played two more games. The Lightning are red hot (as are the Blue Jackets). Root for Tampa.
The lottery look
With their win against Los Angeles, the Rangers improved (?) to tenth from the bottom of the NHL. They are tied with Chicago and Minnesota with 58 points, but the Rangers own the regulation games won tiebreaker.
The standings (Worst is first)
Teams GR W-L-OTL PT RW
1. Detroit 56 14-39-4 32 11
2. Los Angeles 57 19-33-5 43 13
3. Ottawa 55 18-26-11 47 14
4. New Jersey 54 20-24-10 50 15
5. Anaheim 56 30-16-7 52 16
6. San Jose 55 24-27-4 52 18
7. Buffalo 56 24-24-8 56 18
8. Chicago 55 25-22-8 58 18
9. Minnesota 55 26-23-6 58 23
10. Rangers 54 27-23-4 58 24
11. Nashville 54 26-21-7 59 21
12. Montreal 57 27-23-7 61 17
13. Arizona 57 27-23-7 61 19
14. Calgary 56 28-22-6 62 18
15. Winnipeg 57 29-23-5 63 22
16. Vegas 57 28-21-8 64 22
17. Florida 54 29-19-6 64 24
18. Edmonton 55 29-20-6 64 25
19. Vancouver 56 30-21-5 65 23
20. Toronto 56 29-19-8 66 22
21. Philadelphia 55 30-18-7 67 21
22. Dallas 55 31-19-5 67 21
23. Carolina 55 32-20-3 67 22
24. Islanders 53 31-16-6 68 20
25. Columbus 56 30-17-9 69 23
26. Colorado 54 32-16-6 70 29
Second East Wild Card Cut Line: 67 points
Second West Wild Card Cut Line: 62 points
My three stars of the game
- Igor Shesterkin was the first star of the game with an outstanding effort. If there was any doubt that Shesterkin was everything that he was reported to be, they are gone now. Though based on a small sample size, Shesterkin is looking to be a worthy successor to Henrik Lundqvist and the latest in a series of special New York Rangers goaltenders.
- Phil Di Giuseppe is making the most of his time in New York. While it was Kaapo Kakko who scored the game winning goal, it was completely off the effort on the boards by Di Giuseppe. He was as strong on defense as he was offensively.
- Filip Chytil had his most well rounded game of the season, possibly of his career. It was the first two assist game of his career and while he is known for his crashing the net and his goal scoring, he is also a center and coming up with assists is the next step for this young player.
The official three stars
- Igor Shesterkin
- Filip Chytil
- Phil Di Giuseppe
What’s next
The Rangers hit the road, playing five of the next seven games before the trade deadline on the road. As they say, this is when the rubber hits the road. The next game is Tuesday night in Winnipeg, an 8pm EST start.
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