Blue Line Station
Fansided

An almost perfect road win over Ottawa 2-1

By Steve Paulus

Feb 20, 2022; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators left wing nick Paul (21) shoots on New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin (31) in the third period at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 20, 2022; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators left wing nick Paul (21) shoots on New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin (31) in the third period at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 20, 2022; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; New York Rangers center Ryan Strome (16) faces off against Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) in the second period at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 20, 2022; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; New York Rangers center Ryan Strome (16) faces off against Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) in the second period at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports /

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.

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.<

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