Examining Will Borgen's First Game As A New York Ranger

Rangers Win In Dallas

Will Borgen joined a New York Rangers team that has been floundering as of late, losing 11 of their last 14 games. Friday night's matchup against the 19-12-0 Dallas Stars seemed it would be another major disappointment for Rangers fans, but the Blueshirts faithful would be pleasantly surprised as New York would come away with a 3-1 win in Dallas thanks to a strong defensive effort and goals from Vincent Trocheck, Reilly Smith, and Chris Kreider.

Will Borgen's Debut

One particular bright spot in the Rangers performance from Friday night was the play of newly acquired defenseman Will Borgen from the Seattle Kraken. Rangers Head Coach Peter Laviolette placed a fair amount of trust in the trade acquisition, putting Borgen on the ice for 17 minutes and 17 seconds of the game.

During his time on the ice, Borgen registered two shots on goal, blocked one shot, laid two hits, and had a takeaway without registering a giveaway. Additionally, Borgen was on the ice when Chris Kreider scored the empty netter that sealed the Rangers win, earning Borgen a plus in the plus/minus category, and making him a plus-one on the evening.

One game is, admittedly, a small sample size to be judging a defenseman by, but that didn't stop some Rangers fans from praising Borgen and expressing their content with not allowing two or more goals in a game for the first time in 15 games.

Borgen's reliability and steadfast play stood in stark contrast to the recent performances of some Rangers defenseman. Many Blueshirts fans have found themselves frustrated with the play of the defensive core in the last couple of months, often singling out names like Lindgren and Miller, so it was important for Borgen to make a good first impression.

It would be entirely too premature to declare the trade for Borgen an unquestionable success, but in the Borgen era, the New York Rangers are 1-0-0 with a 1.00 goals against average.