Georgiev gets the 3-2 win over Chicago

Alexandar Georgiev had a huge weight lifted off his shoulders when the buzzer rang and the New York Rangers had beaten the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2.  He made the saves he needed to, got tremendous defensive support from his teammates and rode another spectacular performance by Artemi Panarin to his third win of the season.  But for two dubious rulings by the referees, it could have been a 3-0 laugher.

The Rangers overcame an early 1-0 deficit to take a 3-1 lead and held on when the Blackhawks scored with the goalie pulled.  Panarin, Adam Fox and Ryan Strome were the offensive stars while the whole Rangers team blocked 17 shots and kept the Blackhawks at bay.

The two Chicago goals were reviewed by the officials and the Rangers lost both calls.  On Patrick Kane’s first period goal, the Rangers felt the puck had been batted down with a high stick to Kane and they challenged.

After video review, the goal was upheld and the Rangers had to kill off a delay of game penalty.

With 1:19 left and the Chicago goalie pulled, Alex DeBrincat was able to push the puck into the net after Georgiev had made the save.  The whistle blew right after the puck crossed the line and only after DeBrincat made contact with the Ranger goalie.

The play was reviewed and the ruling was that the puck crossed the line before the whistle.

The Blueshirts could have challenged for goalie interference, but DeBrincat had been pushed by Patrik Nemeth so it was not a sure thing.  Overruled, the Rangers would have been down two men so they chose to try to hold the one goal lead for the last 79 seconds which they did.

The Rangers tied the game in the second period on a power play goal by Ryan Strome off a sublime pass from Panarin.

It came on a four minute power play on a high sticking penalty to Henrik Borgstrom that drew blood on Filip Chytil’s face.  It was Adam Fox to Panarin who faked the shot and fed a wide open Strome who rifled it home.

With 2:35 left in the second period, it was Fox’s turn to be the hero, on assists from Panarin and Strome.

Fox has an uncanny ability to know when to join the offense and he did it in this case, driving to the net where he was perfectly positioned to put in the rebound of a Panarin shot.

In the third period, clinging to a 2-1 lead, the feeling was they really needed a third goal and the team was tenacious in the offensive zone, cycling and keeping the puck there for minutes at a time.  It was on one of those cycles when Panarin scored the crucial third goal.

This time it was Panarin who scored on a rebound of a shot by Ryan Strome.  It capped off a brilliant night by the Rangers’ star.

With the win, the Rangers improved to 16-4-3 with their 35 points the fourth best in the NHL. Again, they have games in hand on the teams ahead of them in the standings.   They’ve won eight in a row at Madison Square Garden and six in a row overall, the longest current streak in the NHL.

Here’s a five minute recap of the game.

This has been a very difficult season for Georgiev and it’s a great opportunity to show what he can do.

After the game, Georgiev said he was “excited for the opportunity.  I want to play a lot. To help the team win games.  Focus on one day at a time.  Happy I managed to do the job today. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.”  He also was clearly not happy with the last few weeks and said he didn’t want to talk about it or the lack of playing time.

One more time, the Rangers found a way to win and Ryan Strome talked about it after the game. “We come to the rink expecting to win games.  I don’t think we’re coming to the rink overly confident, but I don’t think we’re lacking confidence…we’re coming knowing we’re a good team and we have the ability to win games when we put it together.”

He spoke about the “new” Rangers.  “We’re having guys that are playing a great team game. Everyone is playing to their roles, guys are buying in, doing what it takes to win, sacrificing.  Everyone is in it for the common goal…we don’t take it for granted. We’re a hard working team. ”

It’s evident from their record in one-goal games.  They’ve played 15 real one-goal games (including games they have scored into an empty net) and they are 11-1-3.  They’ve already equaled the number of one goal wins from last season when they went 11-10-6.

Notes on the game

The last time they won eight games in a row at home was in the 2016-17 season. In case you were wondering, the longest Rangers home winning streak is 14 games set in 1939-40.

The six game winning streak is their longest since November 2017.  The Rangers had a nine game winning streak in November 2015.  Twice in franchise history they have won 10 games in a row.

With 35 points in 23 games, it is the best start for a Rangers team since 1971-72.  If they can beat Chicago on Tuesday, they will tie the 1931-32 team that had 37 points in 24 games, the most ever.  If they  can win against Chicago and Colorado they will own the best start ever for a Rangers team with 39 points in 25 games.  The 1931-32 team had 37 points in 25 games. The 1971-72 team had 38 points after 25 games.

With a goal and two assists, Artemi Panarin has moved into ninth place in NHL scoring with 26 points.

Adam Fox had a goal and an assist and moved into first place in defense scoring with 25 points and 20 assists. He also leads all blueliners with 10 power play points.

Alexandar Georgiev stopped 25 of 27 shots including one with his helmet that was ticketed for the net.  He got some help from the posts and crossbar, but overall was very, very solid.

One question is whether Georgiev will get back-to-back starts this week in Chicago and at home against Colorado.  Adam Huska is up as the back up and could see his first game in the NHL if Gallant doesn’t want to use Georgiev two consecutive days.

Chris Kreider was held off the scoresheet for the second straight game, only the second time that has happened this season. He had one shot on goal.

Ryan Reaves led the team with eight hits. He now has 90 hits on the season, fourth most in the NHL and his hits per 60 minutes number is the 27.90, the most in the league.

This was the fourth set of back-to-back games and they have a 2-1-1 record in the second games.

How important is the power play?  In games the Rangers have scored a power play goal, they are 10-1-2.  When they are scoreless, they are 6-3-1.  They are now in ninth place in the NHL with a 22.1% efficiency rating.

The penalty kill is now 17 for their last 17 and the Rangers are now 16th best in the NHL killing off 82.4%.

In this six-game winning streak, they have allowed only 10 goals while scoring 22.  Their +11 goals differential is now ninth best in the NHL. They were dead even just five games ago.

Overshadowed by the Rangers great start is the trouble Mika Zibanejad is having scoring. He has only four goals this season, a  start comparable to last season when he was suffering the consequences of COVID.  At the same point last season he had scored three goals. He is much better in the assist department with 14 compared to only six last season.  For what it’s worth, his 18 points would make him the leading scorer on eight other NHL teams this season and he is a big reason that Kreider has scored so much this season.