Coming off a 5-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes Friday night, the New York Rangers returned to Madison Square Garden to defeat the San Jose Sharks.
It may not have been their best game of the season, but the Rangers battled until the end and walk into the Trade Deadline with another win. Saturday night’s win gives them 70 points on the season, four points out of a wild card spot and only 10 points behind the top seed in the Metropolitan Division.
The Rangers have now won seven out of their last eight and seem to be absolutely unstoppable. They are 9-3-0 since the All-Star Break and have defeated key opponents such as Toronto, Columbus and Carolina.
Igor Shesterkin continues to lead the Rangers to victories, alongside fantastic play from Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and Ryan Strome. The big surprise of the night was Jesper Fast, who scored two goals including the game winner.
Shesterkin improved his record to 9-1 and stopped 44 shots on 46 attempts. He has done a fantastic job in goal and the confidence he is providing to the team is evident.
With the victory, the Rangers picked up two points on Toronto and the idle Islanders and one point on the Blue Jackets who lost in a shootout. They kept pace with Philadelphia and Carolina who won.