The New York Rangers had their biggest February game in four years and they didn’t disappoint, winning a crucial four point game against the Hurricanes.
The New York Rangers haven’t played a lot of meaningful games in February lately. In fact, the last time they were in contention for a playoff spot this late in the season was in 2017. That’s what they faced when they took on the Carolina Hurricanes, a team that needed this win as much as the Rangers. They walked out of the PNC Arena with a 5-2 win, clearly the better of the two teams.
The Rangers win gives them 32 wins and 68 points. They closed to within five points of a wild card spot and knocked the Hurricanes out of a playoff position. It was the Rangers seventh straight road win, tying a team record first set in 1934-35 and tied by the 1978-79 team.
They have now won six of their last seven and nine of their last 12 and there is no doubt that this is a team that intends to make the playoffs. They need every win they can get as they have the second hardest schedule remaining of any team in the NHL.
It was another brilliant night for the Rangers best players, led by Igor Shesterkin, Mika ZIbanejad, Artemi Panarin and Adam Fox. They held them own defensively when they had to and took advantage of two lucky bounces to score the go ahead goals in the second period. They stood up for themselves late in the game when it got very chippy.
It was an impressive victory and was emblematic of the new character that this Ranger team is showing. It’s been an impressive turnaround that hit its stride before the All-Star break, coinciding with the arrival of Igor Shesterkin.
Shesterkin improved his record to 8-1 and has allowed fewer than three goals in five of his last six games. When he is in net you can see that the Rangers know that they can win. It’s impressive.
The game
The first period was a tightly played game that had a playoff feel. Both teams had chances, but play was very tight and neither team had the clear edge in play. Shesterkin was tested early when a Ranger turnover at the blue line resulted in a two-on-one.
About 12 minutes into the period Jacob Trouba was called for interference and that resulted in a change in momentum. The Hurricanes took over play. During the penalty kill Shesterkin was fabulous, making four point blank saves in 33 seconds.
Even after killing the penalty the Hurricanes continued to dominate. In just under five minutes Carolina had six shots on goal, missed one shot and the Rangers blocked four shots. That’s 11 shot attempts in 4:45.
That’s when the Rangers struck first.
Mika Zibanejad took the puck away from Jordan Staal who was manning the point and had a breakaway, putting a backhand past Petr Mrazek. The Rangers took the 1-0 lead into the locker room despite having to kill another Trouba penalty.
Shots were 30-23 in favor of the Hurricanes and the Rangers blocked an amazing 17 shots.
The Hurricanes came out in the second period and had to kill a slashing penalty to Jordan Staal. Just after the penalty expired, the Canes scored the equivalent of a shorthanded goal. Kaapo Kakko tried a pass instead of a shot and it ricocheted off the boards and Carolina was able to headman the puck to Staal who had just come out of the penalty box. He made the pass to Brock McGinn who put the puck past Shesterkin.
The tie game lasted all of six minutes when the Rangers scored two goals that had to be considered lucky.
At first it appeared that Panarin put the puck in, but it was Fast’s pass that richocheted off the Canes and into the net.
The Rangers padded their lead on a goal that was nothing but luck.
Brady Skjei carried the puck into the Hurricanes zone and behind the net. Checked by Brett Pesce, Skjei fell down, but threw the puck in front of the net and it banked off Jake Gardiner and past Mrazek.
The Rangers dominated the second period with 22 shot attempts to 14 for the Hurricanes.
The third period was time to pile on. Artemi Panarin scored an early power play goal to extend the lead to 4-1.
Kaapo Kakko did a good job keeping the puck in the zone and two quick passes from Filip Chytil to Mika Zibanejad and Panarin was wide open and buried the shot.
After Sebastian Aho scored on the power play to extend his point scoring streak to 11 games, Ryan Strome scored an empty net goal to seal the win.
Jacob Trouba made a good clearing pass that Strome caught up to just before the goal line and he put the puck into the wide open net.
The last ten minutes featured a lot of chippy play as the Canes threw some heavy checks and Warren Foegele slew footed Adam Fox. Nino Niederreiter threw a high hard hit at Anthony DeAngelo and was called for charging. DeAngelo retaliated with a slash and there were a lot of words exchanged the rest of the game.
Petr Mrazek made one of the better saves of the season, robbing Mika Zibanejad of a sure goal.
It was a decisive win for the Rangers and they sent a message to every team in the Eastern Conference. With their ability to score, Shesterkin in net and a reborn team defense, they can beat any team in the conference, home or away.