Vladislav Gavrikov steps up on both sides of the ice as Rangers snap four-game skid with home win against Blues

The New York Rangers finally got back in the win column last night, snapping a four-game losing streak during a brutal stretch of games, by defeating the St. Louis Blues 3-2 at Madison Square Garden. Despite Thanksgiving being just a couple of days away now, this was only their second win on home ice this season. And a win in this one was in no way guaranteed.

The matchup was well-situated to be another disappointing result. Will Borgen was placed on injured reserve and now captain J.T. Miller is sitting out nursing an upper body injury. With an equally frustrated but hungry Blues team in town, the rest of the Rangers' squad would have to find a way to replace Borgen's defensive prowess and Miller's offensive production.

In a surprising turn of events, they were able to do just that. And by "they" I mean essentially just Vladislav Gavrikov, New York's big free agency pickup this offseason not only delivered on the defensive skillset Chris Drury was after, but also was one of the team's most integral offensive threats all game.

Gavrikov goes on the offensive for the second straight game

The 30 year old Russian defender got things going less than a minute into the second period with the game tied at one apiece by throwing the puck on net from the blue line and allowing Alexis Lafrenière to get his stick up for a nice deflection that snuck past Blues goalie Joel Hofer.

Just a few minutes later, Gavrikov displayed offensive zone awareness and acumen we're much more used to seeing come from his partner Adam Fox.

This visualization crystalizes the effort from the 6'3" defender. #44 draws out a Blues skater before zipping the puck to Sam Carrick who smoothly swaps spots with him. Gavrikov wastes no time heading for the net as Carrick sends the puck cross-ice to Fox. Fox's shot attempt is blocked and as the puck bounces behind the net, Gavrikov never stops moving. He uses his momentum from the blue line to scoop up the puck in the corner and make a no-look, backhand pass right onto the gigantic stick of Adam Edstrom who buries his second goal in three games.

Delivering in the D-zone, as well

The Rangers would need every ounce of Gavrikov's offensive effort, as well as his typical defensive output. He led the team in time on ice with a whopping 26+ minutes. The peak of his performance came in the defensive zone with about five minutes left in regulation after Brett Berard took a four-minute double minor for high sticking. The Blues were able to sustain intense pressure, trapping the first penalty kill unit on the ice for over a minute and a half. When the Rangers were finally able to barely push the puck out of the zone, Gavrikov stayed back to defend, allowing his three gassed linemates to swap out for fresh legs. In total, his shift lasted 2:33.

With less than 90 seconds on the clock and the Rangers still up two goals, Mike Sullivan (rightfully) decided to give Gavrikov a break, sending Urho Vaakanainen out with Fox. The Blues promptly scored on a soft shot that Igor Shesterkin should've been able to wrangle. Now only up by one with 1:15 remaining, Sullivan sent Gavrikov right back out and the Blueshirts were able to hold off the Blues until the final buzzer.

Gavrikov has a goal and three assists in his last two games and is slightly outpacing his best single-season points total (33). He has been one of the few true consensus bright spots this season among fans. Not only for what he's done on the ice himself, but also for how he's freed up Adam Fox to play at a level as high as any other season in his NHL career thus far.

Looking ahead...

Zooming out, the Rangers improve to 11-11-2 on the season. Their 24 points has them sitting ahead of only two teams in the Eastern Conference and only three points out of the cellar. At the same time, they are only two points out of the two wildcard spots. In fact, out of the 16 teams in the East, the conference's top team (Carolina) and bottom team (Toronto) are currently only separated by nine points. Every team remains genuinely in contention, which makes wins like last night's all the more important.

The Blueshirts begin another scary stretch of games on Wednesday when they head to aforementioned Carolina to take on the first place Hurricanes.