The New York Rangers had a significant tilt against the Montreal Canadiens in front of the Madison Square Garden crowd. In a crazy 5-4 overtime win, Antonio Caruso, a contributor here at Blue Line Station, was at the game and described the vibe with one sentence.
"I was at the game tonight, the Garden was electric."
There have not been too many opportunities for this team to give the Rangers Faithful their money's worth, especially with the Centennial jerseys on. Let's take a look at three big takeaways from the amazing win.
Curse is broken
After losing the first five games in regulation with the special Centennial jerseys on, the curse was finally broken against the Canadiens. It didn't start out all that great for the Blueshirts, which we will talk about further down this page. But, the important thing to note is that these jerseys do not have any more hexes on them, and the history and lore of these jerseys will not be that the Rangers were winless in them.
Captain J.T.
Talk about putting a team on your back. Many have speculated on the worthiness of J.T. Miller to be the captain of this team, as his performance this season has been spotty at times. But, with a two-goal night, including the game-winner in OT, should silence some of the haters and doubters.
Now at nine goals and 11 assists for 20 points on the year, Miller is doing his part. Recently, he has scored those two goals and added four assists over his last five games. He is heating up at the perfect time.
That comeback gene is alive again
The Rangers did not get off to a great start against the Canadiens. In the first 16:18 of play in the first period, the Habs scored three goals and put the Rangers in a big hole. But, this team showed off the thing that made them so great when the won the Presidents' Trophy, and had been missing since. Their comeback gene is alive again.
Noah Laba got a powerpay goal to start things off, than Artemi Panarin, who had a blistering eight shots on goal in this game, scored on a penatly shot to force the comeback into action. After the Canadiens scored one more to put the game at 4-2 in the second period, the Rangers got right back into it with a quick burst of goals from Will Cuylle and Miller.
It was not a pretty win, but it was definitely a win to get the people excited. The Blueshirts might have missed out on Quinn Hughes, thankfully, and they showed that they do not need him.
Curse broken, and the season carries on.