That was not exactly as it was all drawn out before the puck was dropped, but anytime you can walk out of an arena in California with two additional points in the standings is a success. This was a much better game for the Rangers as a team. There was a lot more established control over the game and it became clear that the Sharks were only going to threaten if the Rangers pushed too hard.
Julien Gauthier got the ice-breaker with less than 7 minutes remaining in the game as he tipped home a Jacob Trouba point shot to beat the sparkling James Reimer. Trouba’s 200th career assist would give the Rangers a lead that they would refuse to relinquish. After taking control of the game with their play early on, the scoreboard finally sided with the Blueshirts and the team was able to just shut up shop for a nice easy win… you would have hoped.
Adam Fox would score on the empty net with 67 seconds remaining in the game. That pushes his point streak to 8 games and it turned out to be the game-winner because the Rangers refuse to make anything easy. This was after Jimmy Vesey had been absolutely robbed in broad daylight by James Reimer. That was the caliber of save that now has a warrant for his arrest in the state of New York. That was larceny.
For the last 67 seconds, New York decided that the game was over so the Sharks scored with 17 seconds left. Logan Couture had failed to block Fox’s point shot on the line for the empty net goal but he cut the lead to one. Most teams would take this as a warning sign that the game wasn’t over, but with less than 5 seconds left, the Sharks had a golden opportunity that was denied, and the clock ticked down.
Igor Shesterkin now has nine wins on the year and is still the only goalie with a win as the Rangers improve to 9-6-4. They improve to 1-0-1 on this road trip and with the two teams in southern California coming up, this was a good win. It ensures that the Rangers will be returning home with at least three points from this four-game trip.
Next on the docket is the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night at 10:30 PM Eastern. Another awful start time for the fanbase but it’s another game that the Rangers could be taking two points from. This is the kind of win that the Rangers needed to get the confidence of the fans back. They were the better team throughout recording 43 shorts compared to the 23 of the Sharks. That should tell you the whole story.
New York’s 9-6-4 record is not as symmetrical as the 8-6-4 record was, but it does mean that the Rangers stay in the second wild-card place in the Eastern Conference. Two points ahead of Florida having played a game more is a difficult situation to be in, but it is the situation the Rangers are in and the Blueshirts just need to keep their head above water for the time being. There will be a time to panic so enjoy the win.