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Lafrenière stars as Rangers post 2nd straight 4-0 win

By Steve Paulus

Apr 16, 2022; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers left wing Alexis Lafreniere (13) celebrates with New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin (31) after a 4-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 16, 2022; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers left wing Alexis Lafreniere (13) celebrates with New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin (31) after a 4-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 16, 2022; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers left wing Alexis Lafreniere (13) talks with teammates before a face-off against the Detroit Red Wings during the third period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 16, 2022; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers left wing Alexis Lafreniere (13) talks with teammates before a face-off against the Detroit Red Wings during the third period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports /

My 3 Ranger stars

  1. Alexis Lafrenière gets the deserved number one star for shaking off a one game benching (yeah, he was rested), to come back and score two goals.  The second goal was just fabulous and the kind of goal we have been waiting for him to score for two seasons. He has 17 goals playing mostly on the third line.  Not bad.
  2. Barclay Goodrow is the unsung hero for the Rangers.  He made plays to force the two goals for Lafrenière and played an excellent all around game.  He led all forwards with two blocked shots and two hits along with two assists.
  3. Igor Shesterkin has to get a star because of the shutout, though a case could be made for Mika Zibanejad who had a goal and an assist.  Shesterkin was there when he was needed.

The official 3 stars

  1. Alexis Lafrenière
  2. Mika Zibanejad
  3. Igor Shesterkin

The playoff picture

The Rangers moved into a tie with Carolina for first place with the win.

The Penguins lost to the Bruins 2-1 and that means the Rangers have opened a seven point lead on Pittsburgh.The magic number to clinch second play is now only three. Top Penguins goalie Tristan Jarry was injured in their game against the Islanders and is day-to-day, dire news for the flightless birds.

The game Ranger fans will be interested in is tonight in Denver where the Hurricanes take on the league leading Colorado Avalanche.  Other than a trip to Madison Square Garden, it’s the last time Carolina plays a team headed to the playoffs as they have games with Arizona, Winnipeg, the Islanders and two versus New Jersey.

What’s next

The schedule is really giving the Rangers a break as they have another two days off before playing on Tuesday when the Winnipeg Jets come to Madison Square Garden. The last time they played a team outside the Eastern Conference was on March 15 when they took on Anaheim and this is their final game outside of the conference.

After Winnipeg, the Rangers go on the road for the last time as they travel to Elmont Thursday to take on the Islanders and then a quick trip to Boston for another Saturday matinee.  After that trip, there are only three games left on the schedule, all at home.

More. The first 50 win season. light

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