Evaluating the Rangers first quarter of the 2022-23 NHL season

This year has not been straightforward. Madison Square Garden has seen the strength of the Rangers early in the year while also recently putting the brutal inconsistencies of this roster on full display. One of the major issues about playing on the biggest hockey stage in the USA is the spotlight shines brighter in the Big Apple. This has been a year that the Rangers will not be proud of to this point.

After 21 games, the Rangers are 10-7-4. For those counting along at home, that’s 24 points. Good enough to put them in the first wild card position in the east, behind the Carolina Hurricanes on points percentage. This is a precarious decision because of the Rangers’ total games played situation. Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, and Florida all currently sit outside the playoff line chasing the Blueshirts for a playoff place.

In net, Igor Shesterkin has not been the Igor that the Ranger faithful fell in love with last year but he has not been a disappointment. This has been a season of regression for the Russian netminder but with the shot-stopper coming off the best single season by a netminder in New York Rangers history, that is more than forgivable. 2nd in wins, joint 14th in save percentage, and 9th in goals against, with 1 shutout, this isn’t an Igor bailing the team out.

New York currently sits 16th in goals for and 12th in goals against. Given how well the Rangers starting goaltender is performing, this really highlights the issues defensively the Blueshirts are finding. For the Rangers, this needs to improve and quickly. If they are going to contend for Lord Stanley’s Cup, that’s fine but they shouldn’t scrape into the playoffs and ruin their draft position if they’re first-round fodder.

Questions need answering in New York, but this team is still young and there is still a lot to look forward to. Slowly, the young guys are starting to pull more of their own weight and some of the forwards that were so highly touted when they were drafted are starting to develop more under Gallant. With the rough edges, there is still a lot of promise with this roster.

In hockey, there is a saying. American Thanksgiving is a strong indicator of what teams are going to make the playoffs. Usually, more than 10 of the 16 teams in the league that are in the playoff places come Thanksgiving make up the playoff teams when we get to April. For the sake of the Rangers, let us hope that holds true.