After the tantalizing 2021-22 season came to an end, especially in the manner in which it concluded, the time has come for the New York Rangers and their outstanding fanbase to look towards the off-season.
Yet, it would feel almost remiss to abandon such a wonderful and unexpected season to immediately focus on the year to come.
Like every beautiful valley, there were ups and downs throughout the year that saw this Rangers team make a run to the Eastern Conference Final only to come two games short of their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final since 2014.
But I am sure that many fans, like myself, have buried the memory of that 2014 run in the deepest, darkest depths of our minds in a helpless attempt to relieve ourselves of the dreadful end.
Thus, I felt a strong urge to reminisce on the season that was. Identify some of the key performances from the Rangers this season, and appreciate the success from this past season.
Here are the top three games from the 2021-22 season that evoke the strongest emotions of happiness from yours truly.
(Note: It would be all too easy to pick three games from this year’s postseason, so the three contests will come strictly from the regular season.)
1. Thanksgiving showdown
The day after Turkey Day, with all of our bellies stuffed and the next week of dinners consisting of leftovers sitting in the refrigerator, the Rangers traveled to Bean Town for a match with the Boston Bruins; and oh what a match it was.
The Rangers played arguably one of their best performances of the season on November 26th, 2021, edging the Bruins 5-2 in Boston.
It marked the first victory against the Bruins on the Thanksgiving Showdown for the Rangers, having gone 0-2-1 in their previous three meetings with Boston on Black Friday.
Igor Shesterkin had yet another fantastic performance, Artemi Panarin scored the tie-breaking goal in the third period, and who could forget the infamous glove throw?
The game featured scoring, great goaltending, and displayed no lack of chippiness in the match.
The third period stomping the Rangers put on Boston was simply textbook, and the cherry on top: Panarin throwing his glove at Bruins forward Brad Marchand in a hilarious sequence of events.
Artemi Panarin threw his glove at Brad Marchand 😂🍿 pic.twitter.com/xzIrEY4cNn
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 26, 2021
2. Unbe-Leaf-able game
An inconspicuous game on a Wednesday evening in mid-January? That is correct.
This contest featured a comeback, 6-3 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on TNT, as well as an unsung hero with the grand performance.
Ryan Reaves scored the first two goals for the Rangers, his first two of the season, to help keep his team in the game by bringing the score within one on both occasions.
Reaves’ second goal, by the way, was the first of five consecutive tallies to give New York the 6-3 victory. Adam Fox also had a strong game, scoring two goals and one assist.
Additionally, after surrendering three goals on the first 11 shots in the opening frame, Igor Shesterkin shut the door on Toronto in the following two periods, stopping 27 shots against.
3. The half-century mark
The third and final game of this list comes in the form of a 4-2 loss to an eventual playoff opponent.
Yet, while the Rangers did fall to the Carolina Hurricanes on the evening of April 12th, there was a feel-good story to emerge from this matchup.
Chris Kreider, a 10 year, homegrown veteran of the Rangers whom the team had drafted 19th overall in 2009, scored his 50th goal of the season.
Kreider became the fourth player in New York Rangers history to hit the 50 goal plateau, and just the second player to be drafted by the Rangers after Vic Hadfield hit the mark in 1971-72.
For a streaky scorer who had never hit the 30 goal mark in his career, it was a breath of fresh air to finally see the player every fan knew Kreider was capable of becoming.
Honorable mention
As much of a man of my word as I tend to be, I will make an exception to the rule of “no playoff games”.
After all, a deep playoff run filled with intensity and excitement should be present and accounted for.
Thus, through the bylaws that I am making up as I go along, it is hereby approved to feature one postseason match.
That match happens to be Game 1 vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning.
It is true, the Rangers did play a plethora of electric playoff games, and it is quite tempting to include the Game 7 performance against the Metropolitan Division-winning Carolina Hurricanes, or perhaps the Game 7 OT victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
However, Game 1 against Tampa offered something the other series simply did not.
This contest against the Lightning proved that the Rangers deserved to be where they were. It cemented the Rangers as a legitimate power in the NHL standings now and going forward.
The top three lines all contributed on the offensive side, especially the dominating performance fans have come to expect from the “Kid Line”.
Filip Chytil scored the game-winning goal in the slot off a beautiful feed from Kaapo Kakko, only to follow it up with another tally off a one-timer from the top of the right circle.
This game also killed the absurd narrative that this New York club had not encountered a “real goalie” through the first two rounds, where they met Casey DeSmith and Louis Domingue for the Pittsburgh Penguins, as well as Antti Raanta, and Pyotr Kochetkov for the Hurricanes.
Putting a six spot up on Andrei Vasilevskiy, a goalie heralded as the greatest on the planet, showed all the naysayers that the New York Rangers are not a team to be taken lightly.
Regardless of how the series ended, the performance this Rangers gang put on display was admirable.
As noted by Lightning head coach Jon Cooper who said of Rangers head honcho: “Gerard Gallant is going to be sitting here not too long in the future”.
Whichever team paves their way to the Eastern Conference Final next season, they can expect their opponent to be the squad who doesn’t quit in the city that never sleeps.
Well enough about what was, on to what will be.