Rangers win ugly 3-2 over Kraken

My 3 Rangers stars

1. Mika Zibanejad gets the number one star and thank goodness since he was the one Rangers forward who actually showed up for this game.  He scored a goal, had two assists, won 12 of 19 faceoffs and led the team in shot attempts.  It’s no mystery that it was because he was in the penalty box that Seattle was able to score a power play goal.
2. Igor Shesterkin had another excellent game, keeping the Rangers in a game that they shoudl have lost.  There were no spectacular saves, but he was very, very good.  The Rangers should let the opposition have 40 shots against every game, since Shesterkin excels under that pressure.
3. K’Andre Miller won the game and that gets him a star.  He showed excellent patience on the shot along with awareness of his situation.  He has stepped up with the loss of Adam Fox and played the second most minutes of any defenseman.

The official 3 stars (or 3 players for the home team when they win)

1. Igor Shesterkin
2. Mika Zibanejad
3. K’Andre Miller

What’s next

The Rangers finish up their first half of the season against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night.  They have split the first two games this season and this will be the final match between the two teams unless they meet in the playoffs.

Note that the game will not be televised by MSG, but will be on ESPN+ and Hulu.  Gametime will be 7pm.

After that, the Rangers have 14 days off and will not be back in action until they host the Boston Bruins on February 15.  The Bruins won’t be off the full two weeks as they have three make-up games the week before they play the Rangers.

It will give the Rangers a chance to get healthy, but it will also give the other Eastern contenders to catch up to the Blueshirts who have played more games than any other teams in the East. The teams with the most games in hand are Carolina (4), Boston (5) and Toronto (6).  The Blueshirts have played one more game than Florida, Tampa, Pittsburgh and Washington.