In the second half of a back-to-back involving international travel, the New York Rangers were defeated by the Winnipeg Jets in the frozen tundra. This resulted in the Rangers losing their footing at the top of the Metropolitan division in the early stages of the season, but that is a conversation for another time. Right now we are here to talk about the Winnipeg game.
With the Rangers giving up the first goal just after the halfway point of the first period, they spent most of the game trailing. That is not an ideal situation and it put the Rangers in an awkward position. In an early season back-to-back, it was going to be pivotally important for the Rangers to stay at least tied and take the lead if possible. Once Winnipeg took the lead, this became a really difficult uphill battle for the Blueshirts.
When the Rangers did tie the game, it became visible that this was a very tired Rangers team. Justifiably so, three games in four nights to start the year. They will get some rest now and that performance last night was not as bad as it could have been. There are a lot of silver linings to take from that performance. While it isn’t the two points the team or the fans wanted, there’s a lot to like.
Artemi Panarin is now the leading producer in the NHL. His six points lead the league at the time of writing this so he is off to the hot start the Rangers needed him to be. Whether he can continue this for the next 79 games or if he slows down, time will tell, but the Rangers getting their best player to produce like that is a good sign. He will help a lot when games get tight.
This was the first game we got to see Jaroslav Halak between the pipes for New York. He did stop 30 of 33 and was a big part of the reason New York didn’t get blown out but he was not the story in this game. He was the weaker of the two netminders, which will happen sometimes when you’re playing your backup, but it hurt New York.
New York lost this game because they couldn’t score. To have 41 shots and only score once is just not good enough. It’s the most frustrating way in the sport to lose a game. Blowing up the shot clock and just not being able to convert on your chances is a major issue. For a team that has Stanley Cup aspirations, you’re going to need to score on the best netminders in the NHL and the Rangers couldn’t tonight.