New York Rangers vs Winnipeg Jets: A good 4-1 win against a good team
By Steve Paulus
The New York Rangers played an outstanding road game defensively, scored timely goals, won the special teams battle and rode their rookie goalie to his sixth win in seven starts.
The entire New York Rangers world stopped for a few minutes midway through the first period when Igor Shesterkin went down with what looked like a serious injury. The entire New York Rangers world breathed a sigh of relief when Shesterkin shook it off and continued to play even through he had to leave for a time to undergo the league mandated concussion protocol.
Shesterkin made 42 saves, becoming the first goalie in NHL history to have three 40 save wins in his first seven games. He is now 6-1, winning his first road start. This young man is for real.
Chris Kreider continued his brilliant play, scoring the first two goals. He is either raising his trade value enormously or making the decision whether to trade him extraordinarily difficult. Kreider has been a point-a-game player for his last 26 games. He has scored 15 goals in his last 22 games.
The Rangers kept the high powered Jet offense totally at bay except for a meaningless third period goal that was scored as a power play expired. The penalty kill was officially four for four while the Rangers scored on their only power play.
It was a dynamic game for the Rangers, dominated by Shesterkin’s goaltending and the play of the top two lines. It’s worth nothing that Henrik Lundqvist played 6:04 in relief of Shesterkin and made one huge save. It was a scoreless game at the time and if that puck goes in, the game is completely different.
They now go for their third win in a row in Minnesota on Thursday, a feat that they have failed to accomplish the last four times they won two games in a row.