An almost perfect road win over Ottawa 2-1
The New York Rangers made their last trip to Ottawa this season and came home with a close 2-1 win. It would have been a perfect road win if Igor Shesterkin had been able to do what no Rangers goalie has ever done, score a goal. With the Ottawa goalie pulled late in the third period, Shesterkin got to the puck behind the net and flung it down the ice. It looked like it was going to go in the net, but took a line that left it inches from the right post. Oh well.Next time.
Despite falling behind 1-0, the Rangers pulled out another win, scoring their standard one even strength goal and winning the game on the power play. The Rangers have allowed only 11 goals in their last six games while going 4-1-1. Of course, they have scored only 15 goals with just nine of them at even strength.
As long as the Rangers keep winning close games all is well in Rangersland, but they have some tough games coming up and heat up the scoring a bit.
Even without scoring, the afternoon belonged to Igor Shesterkin who was impenetrable after getting beat by a first period shot from Tim Stützle on a two on one. Shesterkin slammed the door shut, stopping 29 shots.
The Rangers are walking a fine line between winning and losing and by next Sunday, we’ll know a lot more about where this team stands in the NHL heirarchy.
About the game
This was anything but a scintillating game. Both teams took turns with offensive zone time, but high danger chances were few. At even strength, the Rangers had 47 shots attempts with only eight of those of the high danger variety. The Senators had 52 shot attempts of which only six were high danger.
The Senators got on the board first when the Rangers turned the puck just over the Senators’ blue line. Ottawa broke in on a two-on-one. Jacob Trouba let Shesterkin handle the puck carrier and Tim Stützle rifled a shot over the Ranger goalie’s blocker. It was an excellent shot and Shesterkin was clearly beaten.
Timmy picks his spot 🎯#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/mRv1OWVPEm
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) February 20, 2022
The Rangers answered right back on goal by Ryan Strome just 2:35 later. The play was made by Artemi Panarin who had gained possession of the puck in the Senators’ zone. He made the pass to Braden Schneider who was in center ice, the pass reach Schneider just inside the blue line. The young defenseman let loose with a one-timer that was blocked but ended on Strome’s stick and he put the puck past Senators goalie Filip Gustavsson.
Keep pushing. pic.twitter.com/FBLaFkwQj7
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 20, 2022
The 1-1 carried into the second period when Panarin drew a hooking penalty on Nikita Zaitsev at 7:48. The first power play unit went right to work and with the penalty kill focusing on Mika Zibanejad and his one-timer, it left Panarin open to walk in and put a shot past Gustavsson.
Elite. pic.twitter.com/gb7bZByvl2
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 20, 2022
The third period was an excellent defensive period for the Rangers despite a push by the Senators.
T̶w̶o̶-̶o̶n̶-̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶ pic.twitter.com/TmegAZbSlx
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 20, 2022
The Rangers got a second power play with about four minutes left when Nick Paul hooked Panarin on a breakaway. They weren’t able to score despite a couple excellent chances, but it killed off two crucial minutes.
That set up Shesterkin for his failed attempt to score with 1:15 left.
Igor Shesterkin was this close🤏
— Everything Hockey (@EHClothing) February 21, 2022
pic.twitter.com/5p32TzPYQh
The miss resulted in an icing, but Shesterkin was determined to keep the Sens from scoring, making one last save on Connor Brown.
Here’a a full video recap of the game.
One question for Rangers fans is whether they should be blowing out the non-playoff teams like Detroit and Ottawa, or at least winning more one-sided games. Does it matter? On the surface, not to Gerard Gallant,but he has to be a little concerned about the lack of even strength scoring and the dependence on their goalie.
Notes on the game
The win improved the Rangers record to 32-13-5. With 69 points, they closed within a point of second place Pittsburgh who lost to the Hurricanes on Sunday. The Blueshirts have two games in hand on the Penguins.
The Rangers have lost only five times in regulation in the last 19 games. Their 32 wins are fourth most in the NHL.
The Rangers have won 16 road games, second only to Pittsburgh and Carolina with 17.
The win improved their record against the Atlantic Division to 14-2-1. That’s the most wins by any team in the NHL against one division.
Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist and with 55 points, moved into a tie for 12th place in the NHL scoring race. He has four goals and 18 points in his last 12 games.
Ryan Strome’s goal was his first in a month, a span of 10 games and went a long way towards making up for his shootout miss against Detroit.
It was another solid performance by Igor Shesterkin, his 24th win of the season and his 50th career win. He became the 14th goalie in NHL history to reach the 50 win mark in 79 games or less. He is sixth in the league in wins despite playing fewer games than all of the goalies above him. Of all goalies who have appeared in 30 games, Shesterkin is best in the NHL with a 2.01 goals against average and .939 save percentage.
🙅♂️ pic.twitter.com/zkGxvkoFgS
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 21, 2022
The Rangers power play is red hot. They’ve scored 12 goals on their last 29 power plays, a 41% success rate. They have had only four power plays in their last four games. They need to draw more penalties.
The penalty kill has stopped 20 of the last 25 opposition power plays.
Tim Stützle won the individual competition with Alexis Lafrenière in a battle of two of the top three picks from the 2020 draft. Though Stützle scored, the Rangers won and that’s what matters.
The Rangers have won the first two meetings of the year with Ottawa and that means that they’ve won their first season series against the Senators since 2015-16. They wrap up the series on April 9 at Madison Square Garden.
Although he didn’t score, Adam Fox led all skaters, playing 24:48. He had four shots on goal and two takeaways.
There was a nice tribute to Emile Francis by the Rangers.<
💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/wgUdvkkwbQ
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 20, 2022
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My 3 Rangers stars
- What did Artemi Panarin do to deserve the first star? He set up the first Rangers goal. He scored the game winning goal. He drew the only two penalties against the Senators. It was another great game for the Rangers’ star.
- Igor Shesterkin had another stellar performance and came two inches from becoming the first Ranger goalie to score. It’s become a routine for Shesterkin to play well as he hasn’t allowed more than three goals in a game in 2022.
- We’re going to give Braden Schneider the third star for another solid appearance. He had the primary assist on the Ryan Strome goal, played a smart defense and even had 54 seconds of penalty killing time. Schneider serves as representative for the entire Rangers defense.
The official 3 stars
- Artemi Panarin – Rangers
- Ryan Strome – Rangers
- Tim Stützle – Senators
What’s next
It’s a big week for the Rangers with two huge games on national television. Thursday night they take on the Washington Capitals for the first time since opening night and the first time at Madison Square Garden this season. It’s Tom Wilson night and who knows that will happen?
Saturday the Rangers have a matinee against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first meeting of the season for the two teams fighting for playoff home ice advantage. It doesn’t end there as they host the Vancouver Canucks next Sunday. The noise around J.T. Miller’s trade bait status should be deafening in a week.
With four days off, the Rangers should be well prepared. It’s a great time to be a Rangers fan!
More. Remembering Emile Francis. light